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SERIES XXXIV NO. 3 

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES 

IN 

Historical and Political Science 

Under the Direction of the 



Departments of History, Political Economy, and 



Political Science 



/ V 



/& 



THE CONTROL OF STRIKES IN 
AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS 



BY 



GEORGE MILTON JANES, Ph.D. 

Instructor in Political and Social Science in the University of Washington 



BALTIMORE 
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS 

1916 



^•ftograpji 



-\ 



THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 



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THE CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN 
TRADE UNIONS 



SERIES XXXIV NO. 3 

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES 

IN 

Historical and Political Science 

Under the Direction of the 

Departments of History, Political Economy, and 

Political Science 

70 6 



<i>G>) 



THE CONTROL OF STRIKES IN 
AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS 



BY 



GEORGE MILTON JANES, Ph.D. 
Instructor in Political and Social Science in the University of Washington 



BALTIMORE 
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS 

1916 



X 



Copy-slight i 916 by 
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS 



LANCASTER. PA. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface vii 

Introduction 9 

Chapter I. The Development of Control 11 

Chapter II. Control by National Deputy 20 

Chapter III. Arbitration and Control 29 

Chapter IV. The Initiation of Strikes 38 

Chapter V. The Independent Strike 49 

Chapter VI. The Management of Strikes 71 

Chapter VII. Strike Benefits 88 

Chapter VIII. The Termination of Strikes 116 



PREFACE 

This monograph had its origin in an investigation carried 
on by its author while a member of the Economic Seminary 
of the Johns Hopkins University. The chief documentary 
source of information has been the collection of trade- 
union publications in the Johns Hopkins Library. This 
study of the printed material has, however, been supple- 
mented by personal interviews and correspondence with 
both national and local trade-union officials and with em- 
ployers of labor in a number of industrial centers. 

The author would record here his appreciation of the 
helpful criticism of Professor Jacob H. Hollander and 
Professor George E. Barnett, under whose guidance the 
study was undertaken and carried on. 

G. M. J. 



THE CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN 
TRADE UNIONS 



INTRODUCTION 

Strikes have been a marked feature of American industrial 
life during the last fifty years, and this period has been 
characterized by the rise and growth of trade unions in 
this country. The two facts are closely connected. The 
purpose of a strike is to enforce the demands of the men 
who engage in it by a withdrawal from work. To make 
this device more effective, the trade union endeavors to 
organize the workmen. By means of organization three 
results are accomplished. In the first place, the strike 
is made more comprehensive and therefore is more likely 
to succeed. Secondly, the strike is more efficiently financed 
and the strikers, therefore, can stand out longer. Finally, 
the advantages won by the strike are better retained when 
a permanent organization of the men is accomplished. 

It is a popular fallacy that trade unions foment strikes 
and that striking is their reason for being. To this the 
trade unionist says: "Young and weak unions have many 
strikes; old and strong ones have few. If unions were 
mere striking machines, the opposite would be true." 1 
The importance of moderation is insisted upon by most 
labor leaders. Collective bargaining is the ultimate goal 
of nearly all trade unions, and to reach it not only organiza- 
tion but discipline is needed. Strikes are dangerous to 
the organization and costly. Hard experience has taught 
trade-union officials that something more than enthusiasm 
is necessary to win a strike; and, while it may be true 
occasionally that a union thrives on opposition, a strike 
is not to be considered an end in itself. If the strike is 

1 Painter and Decorator, April, 1910, p. 262. 

9 



10 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [348 

lost, the better wages and conditions obtained by previous 
effort may be lost also. Experienced union officials, 
therefore, count the cost before entering on a struggle 
with the employer. The "get-rich-quick strike method," 
as it is called, is termed a failure. 2 Paradoxical as it may 
seem, young and inexperienced unions often disintegrate 
after a strike is won, because it is easier to rely on promises 
than to continue the union and pay dues. But the reten- 
tion of higher wages and better working conditions is 
usually contingent on the continuance of the union. The 
trade-union leader must not merely estimate the chances 
of success, but must also consider whether the ground 
won can be held. The law of the survival of the fittest 
has, therefore, brought about a more or less complete con- 
trol of strikes in many unions, while in all there is unanimity 
of opinion concerning the value and need of organization 
and discipline. 

The purpose of this study is to describe the control of 
strikes exercised by the general or national unions. The 
evolution of strike initiation from local autonomy to con- 
trol by the general or national union is first described. 
This is followed by a somewhat detailed account of the 
place of the national deputy or agent, and the influence 
of arbitration. The initiation of strikes is then taken up, 
after which the unauthorized strike or independent action 
on the part of local unions is discussed in connection with a 
classified list of unions and union policies. A considera- 
tion of strike management follows, together with a de- 
scription of the methods used and the part taken by the 
national deputy or agent. The real source of control, the 
power of the purse, is then described in the matter of strike 
benefits, their amounts, and the rules under which they 
are paid. An account of the growth and influence of the 
strike fund follows, and in conclusion some figures are 
quoted as to the amounts paid out in strike benefits. The 
final chapter is devoted to a discussion of the methods used 
in bringing a strike to an end. 

2 Shoe Workers' Journal, February, 191 1, pp. 25, 26. 



CHAPTER I 

The Development of Control 

The early history of strikes in American trade unions is 
characterized by what may be termed the anarchy of local 
autonomy. The course of development has been away 
from local independence in all matters pertaining to strikes, 
towards the vesting of authority in the matter in the hands 
of the national unions and their officers. 

Previous to the panic of 1837 general trade unions com- 
posed of the local unions in a particular locality were 
organized in the larger cities on the Atlantic seaboard. 
Some measure of control over the initiation of strikes was 
developed by these organizations. The New York General 
Trades' Union, for instance, provided in 1833 that "no 
Trade or Art shall strike for higher wages than they at 
present receive, without the sanction of the Convention." 1 
Under this rule a strike of the cabinet makers was sanc- 
tioned in 1835. 2 The Philadelphia General Trades' Union, 
likewise, provided in 1836 that any society before striking 
must give a written notice to the president, who should 
call a special meeting; if a two-thirds vote of the societies 
present was given in favor, the strike was to be sanctioned 
and aid granted. No aid was granted, however, unless the 
society had been represented in the union for the space of 
six months and had complied with all other constitutional 
requirements. 3 With the panic of 1837 and the depression 
which followed, the trade unions went to pieces. The 
period of rising prices after 1843 found the working classes 
unorganized, and although there were numerous strikes 
throughout the country they were sporadic and without 

1 J. R. Commons and H. L. Sumner, Documentary History of 
American Industrial Society, vol. v, p. 218. 

2 Ibid., p. 234. 
8 Ibid., p. 347. 

II 



12 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [350 

concerted action. 4 "Before the unorganized strikers," 
says Professor Commons, "could be united in permanent 
labor organizations, however, prices had resumed their 
downward course. Strikes were now futile and the workers 
turned their attention towards labor reforms through legis- 
lation and through cooperadve purchasing and mutual 
insurance." 5 The interesting thing about this early move- 
ment is that the necessity for strike control was recognized 
and an attempt made to secure it through the only available 
organ, — the local federation of unions. 

A characteristic feature of the trade-union movement 
since 1852 has been the increasing dominance of the national 
union, that is, the union of local bodies into a national 
organization. All other forms of grouping have been sub- 
ordinated to the control of the national union. 6 The more 
fully the trade unions have turned from political and co- 
operative aims the more thoroughly the national union 
has established its preeminence. For brief periods the 
supremacy of the national union has been threatened — as, 
for instance, during the great growth of the Knights of 
Labor — but it has always reasserted itself. 

The control of strikes has been exercised, therefore, 
primarily by the national union. Each step in the in- 
creasing dominance of the national union has been evi- 
denced by a new check on the power of the local unions to 
initiate strikes or by the assumption of power on the part 
of the national union to manage strikes. The control of 
strikes is by no means equal in all the one hundred and 
thirty national unions. In the newer and weaker unions 
local autonomy in strike control is almost complete; in 

4 In 1846, however, the New York handloom carpet weavers in an 
effort to bolster up their decaying handicraft met in convention and 
provided for mutual help. All grievances were to be submitted to the 
workers, of each factory for advice, and before using stringent measures 
"two-thirds of the whole Trade, the number aggrieved included," 
should approve and advise the same (J. R. Commons, Documentary 
History of American Industrial Society, vol. viii, p. 241). 

6 Ibid., p. 214. 

8 The term "national union" is used throughout this study synony- 
mously with "international union." The greater part of the American 
trade unions have branches in Canada, and accordingly style them- 
selves international unions. 



35 1 J THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTROL 1 3 

others the national control is absolute. But the develop- 
ment everywhere is in one direction, — the substitution of 
national for local control. The evolution of national con- 
trol will be illustrated by a description of several of the 
older unions. As in biology life forms repeat or recapitu- 
late in a brief time the previous slow stages of development, 
so now unions by direct imitation of older unions, or by 
stern necessity, approach in many respects a common type 
of policy. 

The national union of the Printers, the oldest of the 
national unions, was organized as the National Typo- 
graphical Union in 1852. For thirty years the local unions 
in this organization enjoyed almost complete autonomy, 
and all that the national union did in the matter was to 
protest against too frequent strikes. In 1876 rules for the 
government of strikes were passed providing for at least a 
three-fourths majority vote of the local union, "all the 
members being constitutionally notified of the meeting," in 
order to initiate a strike. Members to have the right to vote 
must have belonged to the local union at least six months. 7 
"Since the local unions in case of strike were not aided by 
the International," says one authority, "disobedience to 
these rules carried no penalty." 8 With the establishment 
of the strike fund in 1885, a larger degree of control began 
to be exercised by the national union. 9 The real executive 
power of the union is now vested in an executive coun- 
cil composed of the president, the secretary-treasurer, and 
the second vice-president, and all strikes must receive 
the sanction of this body. 10 

Local autonomy was the rule with the Iron Molders' 
Union for several years after its organization in 1859. A 
strike was sanctioned by the convention of 1861, but with 
the resolution "that this body recommends to local unions 
to discountenance all strikes in their respective localities 

7 Proceedings, 1876, p. 65. 

8 G. E. Barnett, "The Printers: A Study in American Trade Union- 
ism," in American Economic Association Quarterly, October, 1909, 

P. 327. 

9 Ibid., p. 67. 

10 See below, Chapter V. 



14 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [352 

until every other remedy has been tried and failed." 11 
As early, however, as 1863 the initiation of a strike was 
made subject to the approval of a referendum vote. 12 In 
1866 the corresponding representatives were earnestly 
requested to return all unauthorized strike circulars under 
penalty of having their names published if they did not 
do so. Two official strike circulars sent out the same year 
received yeas 100, nays 5, and yeas 92, nays 9, and strikes 
were authorized in both cases. 13 Strikes were generally 
authorized; out of forty-one applications in 1866 only 
three failed to pass. President Sylvis declared that the 
strike rules had worked well, but added that strikes should 
be discouraged as much as possible. 14 The rule requiring a 
two-thirds vote of all the local unions to sanction a strike 
was changed in 1874 to two-thirds of all the votes. 15 The 
president was also obliged to give all the facts in his posses- 
sion when issuing a strike circular. 16 Another change was 
the grant to local unions of the same number of votes on 
strike circulars as the number of delegates they were en- 
titled to in convention. Local unions failing to return 
strike votes were to be fined ten dollars and to suffer for- 
feiture of all rights until the fine was paid. 17 

President Saffin in 1873 published a number of executive 
decisions in regard to the initiation of strikes, such as the 
following: no member can strike a job, no shop committee 
can order a strike, and no job or shop can be struck except 
by a two-thirds vote of the members at a regular meeting, 
or at a special meeting when due and proper notice has 
been given to every member to be present. 18 These 
decisions formed precedents and have been followed by 
the officers of other national unions. A standing resolution 
enacted in 1876 that the question of either financial or 

11 International Journal [Iron Molders], April, 1874, p. 322. 

12 Ibid., May, 1874, p. 354. 

13 Ibid., August, 1866, p. 154. 

14 Ibid., August, 1866, p. 310. 

15 Ibid., March, p. 292, April, p. 327, August, p. 3, 1874. 

16 Ibid., August, 1874, p. 3. 

17 Ibid., p. 5. 

18 Ibid., April, 1873, p. 1; Constitution, 1876, p. 32. 



353] THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTROL 1 5 

moral support should be voted on, and if sanction for a 
strike with moral support was given, no benefits would be 
paid. 19 Considerable discontent arose in regard to the 
referendum vote in the matter, and wider control was 
given the executive board in 1878; but President Saffin 
refused to recognize such power. 20 One critic said that such 
executive boards were copied from the Friendly Societies 
of England and were bound to fail in America. 21 It was 
not until 1882, after several years of agitation, that abso- 
lute control of all strikes and lockouts was put into the 
hands of the executive board and the president, with the 
instruction to see that no more strikes should be carried on 
at any one time than the organization was able to conduct. 22 
A similar development has taken place in the Bricklayers 
and Masons' International Union since its organization in 
1865. At first the general president submitted strike pro- 
posals to the presidents of the local unions for approval or 
disapproval. 23 Such strike arrangements were found to be 
crude and inefficient and not clear. 24 The executive com- 
mittee, made up of the president and the vice-president, 
sanctioned strikes, saying that in the absence of any 
definite rule the matter was left entirely to their judgment. 25 
In 1868 the following rule was enacted to govern local 
unions in initiating strikes: "Such unions shall transmit to 
the president of this union a bill of grievance properly filled 
up and signed by the president and recording secretary, 
attested by the seal thereof. When a union wishes to make 
application for authority to strike the yeas and nays shall 
be taken and it shall require a majority of two-thirds of 
the members of said union to adopt the motion. The 
result of the vote shall in all cases be returned to the presi- 
dent of this union, who on receipt of the bill of grievance 
shall notify the secretary to forward a printed copy thereof 

19 Constitution, 1876, p. 41. 

20 Proceedings, 1878, pp. 48-51. 

21 Iron Molders' Journal, December 10, 1878, p. 62. 

22 Proceedings, 1882, p. 76. 

23 Constitution, 1867, art. xii. 

24 Proceedings, 1868 p. 23. 

25 Ibid., pp. 14-18. 



1 6 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [354 

to each corresponding representative who shall return the 
same within twenty-four hours with decision thereon. If at 
the expiration of twelve days he shall find a majority of 
two-thirds in favor of granting authority to strike, he shall 
notify the union ; and action thereon shall be taken by said 
union within five days from the receipt of said notice. 
It shall require a two- thirds majority of said union to 
authorize a strike." 26 President Gaul protested in 1870 
that too many local unions went out on strike before asking 
for official sanction. He declared himself against strikes, 
but urged that in any event the mode of initiating strikes 
should be less cumbersome and more expeditious. 27 A pro- 
posal in the following year to put the matter in the hands 
of the president was rejected. 28 President O'Keefe in 1870 
refused to sanction a strike which had received the endorse- 
ment of the local unions because of information received 
after issuing the circular. The matter was threshed out 
at three conventions, and finally the local union received 
its strike benefits. 29 

The greatest complaint against the general vote was the 
delay of local unions in making returns. The committee 
on general good recommended in 1886 that all local unions 
hold weekly meetings in order that their secretaries may be 
able to bring requests for a strike vote promptly before them 
for action. 30 It was even said that some local unions did 
not answer at all. To meet this condition it was provided 
in 1887 that a failure to return strike answers should be 
penalized by a fine of five dollars. 31 But even this did not 
bring the desired results, and the following rule was passed 
the next year: "Any Subordinate Union failing to report 
their decision for or against a permission to strike within 
the specified time, the Secretary shall enter such Unions 
as voting in the affirmative upon the records of the Brick- 
layers and Masons' International Union." The time of 

26 Proceedings, 1868, pp. 79, 80. 

27 Proceedings, 1870, pp. 24, 25. 

28 Proceedings, 1871, p. 15. 

29 Ibid., p. 8; 1873, p. 14. 

30 Proceedings, 1886, p. 107. 

31 Proceedings, 1887, p. 91. 



355] THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTROL 1 7 

five days originally set was in 1890 extended to ten days. 
Unions were requested to transmit their answers, yes or no, 
by telegraph to avoid delay. 32 

Aside from recommendations that strike votes should be 
taken more quickly, it was proposed from time to time to 
put the entire matter in the hands of the executive board. 
Power to investigate strikes was given this board in 1894, 33 
more authority in 1897, 34 and finally in 1903 the whole 
matter of strikes and full power in regard thereto were thus 
referred. 35 Pure democracy thus made way for representa- 
tive government. 

The Cigar Makers organized a general union in 1864, 
and their rules governing strikes did not involve any great 
amount of centralized control until 1879. Until then the 
executive board was obliged to sanction without exercising 
any discretion all strikes except those for an increase of 
wages. 36 The depression of 1873 led to many strikes, and 
a committee reported in that year that the reason so many 
had been failures was because the requirements of the law 
had not been carried out. Recommendation was made 
for the more rigid enforcement of the rules relating to 
strikes and assessments. 37 In 1879 a thorough change in 
regard to the initiation of strikes was effected, and the 
rules then adopted remain substantially unchanged. 
Strikes involving less than twenty-five members are sanc- 
tioned at the discretion of the executive board. All in- 
volving more than twenty-five members are submitted to a 
vote of all local unions. If a majority of those voting 

32 Proceedings, 1888, pp. 69, 113. The following is a characteristic 
strike report: "The vote on Circular No. 5, being the bill of grievance 
of Union No. 13, of Lowell, Massachusetts, asking for permission to 
strike, has been received, resulting in favor of said bill as follows: 
Number of Unions voting Yes, 227; Number of Unions No, 25; Number 
of Unions not voting within the ten days required by law, and which 
are counted in the affirmative, 75; excused from voting, 1; total vote 
in favor, 302; Number of Unions question submitted to, 328." 

33 Proceedings, 1894, p. 84. 

34 Proceedings, 1897, pp. 70, 72. 

35 Proceedings, 1903, pp. 115, 116. 

36 Constitution, 1867, art. vii, sec. 10. 

37 Proceedings, 1873, p. 45. 



1 8 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [356 

approve the application, the desired permission is given. 
Any strike for an increase of wages, however, is not con- 
sidered legal unless approved by a two-thirds majority of 
all votes cast. The penalty for local unions failing to vote 
within one week commencing on the day the circular is 
mailed is fixed by the executive board. The local unions 
may send their vote by telegram at the expense of the 
national union provided their location is over two hundred 
miles distant from the office of the national president. 
The vote of local unions on strikes is in proportion to their 
membership: one vote, from seven to fifty members; two 
votes, from fifty to one hundred members or fraction of not 
less than seventy-five; three votes, from one hundred to 
two hundred, and an additional vote for every additional 
one hundred members. 38 Provision was made that the 
national president in submitting an application to strike 
should state the number of men already on strike in other 
localities ; the condition of the funds per capita ; how much 
the per capita assessment would be in order to make up 
the requisite amount, and all other information in his 
possession bearing upon the matter. 39 

The tendency of local unions to vote in favor of a strike 
hastily and without thought or merely by mob influence 
has been obviated to a certain extent. A rule was passed 
in 1886 that "all votes in local unions upon questions of 
strikes must be voted by secret ballot and all votes taken 
contrary to this method shall not be counted." 40 A unan- 
imous strike vote invites suspicion that the rule is being 
violated, and word is returned from headquarters that 
"unanimous strike votes don't go here." 41 

The transition from local autonomy to central control 
in the initiation of strikes might be traced in the case of 
other unions; but much of this, certainly in the case of 
the older and stronger unions, would simply repeat the 
experiences of the Printers, the Iron Molders, the Brick- 

18 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, September 15, 1879, p. 3. 

19 Constitution, 1881, art. vi, sec. 7. 

40 Constitution, 1886, art. vi, sec. 25. 

41 Interview with President Perkins of the Cigar Makers. 



357] THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTROL 1 9 

layers and Masons, and the Cigar Makers. The tendency 
is toward centralized control, and new unions usually copy 
the policies and rules of older unions. A referendum vote, 
similar to that used by the Cigar Makers, is taken by the 
Box Makers, the Chain Makers, the Piano and Organ 
Workers, the Stone Cutters, and the Tobacco Workers. 
The Flint Glass Workers and the Operative Potters require 
a vote of the trade, while the railroad brotherhoods also 
take a general vote before acting. Some sixty-five national 
unions require that sanction for initiating a strike be had 
from the executive board. As these executive boards are 
composed of the general officers and elected members, 
control of strike initiation is in the hands of the general 
union through its elected representatives. 



CHAPTER II 
Control by National Deputy 

The method usually followed in asking for sanction to 
strike is for the local union to send with its application to 
the executive board a statement containing full details as 
to trade conditions, the strength of the local union, and the 
prospects for a successful strike. Some unions, like the 
Carpenters and Joiners, have worked out an elaborate 
schedule of inquiries to be answered by the president and 
the secretary of the local union. The information thus 
obtained makes it possible for the national officers to 
decide whether a strike ought to be authorized. In many 
unions this detailed information is either supplemented by 
or obtained entirely through a general representative or 
agent. Many of the general officers became dissatisfied 
with the method of obtaining information through corre- 
spondence with local officials, and so with the gradual 
development of centralized authority in the national unions 
has come the national agent or deputy. 

The national agent may be found as far back as 1866, 
when President Sylvis of the Iron Molders personally 
supervised the initiation of a strike in Cleveland, Ohio. 
"I appointed," he says in his report, 1 "Mr. Alexander 
Faulkner to look after the interests of the Union ; he is still 
acting under my direction." Faulkner also visited several 
local unions and settled one strike. The convention of 
1863 had already empowered him to visit all local unions, 
he, however, to collect and pay his own expenses. The 
Bricklayers and Masons in 1867 gave their president power 
to appoint a deputy for each local union to supervise the 
working of his union and to report to the president of the 

1 Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Session, in International Jour- 
nal [Iron Molders], January, 1867, p. 306. 



359] CONTROL BY NATIONAL DEPUTY 21 

national union all violations of the constitution by his 
union. 2 This usage is still found in the Steel Plate Trans- 
ferers' Association, whose president may appoint national 
deputies to represent the association where members are 
employed. A strong feeling in favor of local autonomy 
persisted, however, among the Bricklayers; for in the 
convention of 1871 a recommendation that the president 
visit each union between the sessions failed to carry, and 
when taken up again at the convention of 1872 was laid 
on the table for ten years. 

The chief executive as an authoritative representative 
of the national union is found in strongest exemplification, 
perhaps, in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. 
P. M. Arthur, on taking the office of grand chief engineer 
in 1874, 3 began to visit the members of the various divi- 
sions and also railroad officials, such as President Scott of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. Through his personal con- 
ferences and efforts an agreement was made with the 
Grand Trunk Railway in 1875, 4 which being violated led 
to a strike and the making of a new agreement in 1877. 5 
The following extract from a letter written by*Mr. Arthur 
in 1876 to the general superintendent of a railroad illustrates 
the procedure which he followed in cases where a strike was 
threatened : 

The laws and rules of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, to 
which the engineers in your employ belong, require them, when a 
question arises between them and their employers that they cannot 
settle satisfactorily, to send for the Grand Chief Engineer. It is his 
duty to come and use all honorable means in his power to prevent 
any difficulty occurring between them and the company. Your 
engineers have sent for me; I have come, not in the spirit of coercion 
as dictator, but rather as mediator, and would like an interview with 
you and a committee of your engineers. If you will be kind enough 
to grant the favor, please inform the bearer of time and place. 6 

The rules of the Locomotive Engineers conferring author- 
ity on their executive in regard to threatened strikes have 
been frequently copied by other organizations. This has 

2 Proceedings, 1867, p. 52. 

3 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, June, 1874, p. 310. 

4 Ibid., May, 1875, p. 255. 

5 Ibid., February, 1877, p. 65. 

6 Ibid., November, 1876, p. 506. 



22 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [360 

been due to a large extent to the strong personality and 
the long and successful administration of Mr. Arthur. 
Says one writer: "Arthur was the man who led us out of 
the darkness and wilderness of intemperance, taught us to 
mind our own business, to attend to our duties, and the 
importance of non-interference with the affairs of other 
organizations." 7 

In addition to the written application, the Granite 
Cutters in 1880 provided for a report by a committee made 
up of representatives from the two nearest branches and 
one of the members of the branch in which the dimculty 
existed. 8 This report was to describe the condition of the 
local union and to advise as to the expediency of a strike. 
James Duncan in 1901 advocated the adoption of a con- 
stitutional provision requiring a national orncer to visit 
places where grievances required attention, 9 and the sug- 
gestion was finallv incorporated in the constitution in 

I905- 10 

The Cigar Makers provided in 1886 that the president 
should appoint, subject to confirmation by the executive 
board, a member of the national union as agent for a 
strike or lockout which involved more than fifty members 
and which had been carried on for a period of eight weeks. 11 
Provided with proper credentials to act as agent or repre- 
sentative of the national union, he was to proceed to the 
locality of the strike or lockout. The convention in the 
following year 12 struck out the clause "has been carried 
on for a period of eight weeks," thus leaving all strikes and 
lockouts involving more than fifty members open to in- 
vestigation and settlement by an agent. The rule regard- 
ing the agent was changed at the Detroit convention in 
1896, 13 and an agent is now sent whenever a strike or lock- 
out involving more than fifty men is contemplated or may 

7 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, October, 1S96. p. 886. 

8 Constitution, 1880, art. xiii. 

'Granite Cutters' Journal, June, 1901, p. 5. 

10 Constitution, 1905, sec. 12. 

u Constitution, 1886, art. vi, sec. 20. 

12 Proceedings, 1887, pp. 10-21. 

u Proceedings, 1S96, pp. 22, 32. 59. 



36 1 ] CONTROL BY NATIONAL DEPUTY 23 

arise. The local union is required to telegraph within 
twenty-four hours to the president, who shall within twenty- 
four hours appoint a member of the national union to 
proceed to the locality. The report of the committee to 
which this article was referred said: "It should be apparent 
to all who have taken note of the foregoing circumstances 
(costs and difficulties) in the labor movement that where 
arbitration steps in prior to a difficulty great good has 
resulted." 

The Iron Molders in 1882 ordered that the president 
either in person or by deputy should visit the place of 
grievance, investigate, and endeavor to adjust the matter. 14 
The Carpenters and Joiners in 1890 15 and the Bricklayers 
and Masons in 1894 16 made the appointment of such a 
deputy a fundamental policy. 

A special variety of the national deputy is found in the 
"special defense organizers" of the Hotel and Restaurant 
Employes' International Alliance and Bartenders' Inter- 
national League instituted by the convention of that 
organization in 1909. 17 These officials are appointed by 
the executive board for work in localities where the interests 
of the union are threatened. Such representatives are sent 
into towns or cities or states where the unions are con- 
fronted with antagonistic legislation, strikes, or serious 
trouble of any character. As the organization has few 
strikes, the work of these deputies is chiefly in connection 
with legislative movements or public agitations concerning 
the liquor question. 

Although the deputy is usually appointed by the presi- 
dent or the executive board and is subject to their direc- 
tion, it not infrequently happens that a deputy is sent to a 
particular place by direct order of a convention of the 
national union. An illustration of this is afforded by the 
action of the 1903 convention of the Carriage Workers. 18 

14 Proceedings, 1882, p. 76. 

15 Proceedings, 1890, p. 33. 

16 Proceedings, 1894, p. 84. 

17 Proceedings, 1909, pp. 33, 145. 

18 Proceedings, 1903, p. 7. 



24 CONTROL F STRIKES IX AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [362 

The business agent of Local Xo. 83 of Baltimore requested 
that a national representative be sent to Baltimore to 
straighten out the existing difficulty and. if possible, try 
to prevent the threatened strike. John Brinkman was 
authorized to go for two days with expenses paid by the 
executive board. Naturally such action on the part of the 
convention occurs almost exclusively in those unions in 
which the deputy system is either non-existent or is only 
slightly developed. 

The older and stronger national unions require immediate 
notification of any impending difficulty, after which a 
deputy is at once sent to the scene. Some unions provide 
that a national officer or deputy shall be called in only 
as a last resort, or at least only after the local union has 
done everything in its power to settle the difficulty. Thus 
the rules of the Locomotive Engineers provide that the 
general committee of adjustment shall exhaust all efforts 
to effect a settlement before sending for the grand chief 
engineer; 19 the same rule obtains in the Brotherhood of 
Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. 20 the Order of Rail- 
way Conductors, 21 the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, 22 
and the Railway Carmen. 23 The Switchmen 24 and the Car 
Workers 25 must not call in the president until after every 
provision of the constitution and by-laws has been complied 
with. As an outcome of a discussion begun at the conven- 
tion of 1903, the Stove Mounters passed a resolution at 
their convention of 1908 providing that no local union 
should send for a national officer unless the firm absolutely 
refused to settle with the local union. It was argued that a 
little energy, tact, and diplomacy on the part of a local 
union in settling disputes would lessen expenses and give 
the president time for organization work. ' ' The Treasury, ' ' 
said President Tierney, "had thus been unnecessarily 

15 Constitution, 1910, sees. 16, 17. 
20 Constitution, revised, 1910, p. 105. 
- 1 Constitution, 1911, sec. 46. 

22 Constitution, 1907, General Rules, no. 8. 

23 Constitution, 1909, sec. 91. 

24 Constitution, 1909, sec. 261. 

25 Constitution, 1910, sec. 157. 



363] CONTROL BY NATIONAL DEPUTY 25 

depleted, so that drastic strike measures could not be 
resorted to and the Stove Mounters had to take anything 
the manufacturers seemed pleased to offer." 26 

In general, it may be said that the better disciplined 
unions can insist on the local unions carrying on negotia- 
tions up to the breaking point, since they are assured that 
there will be no strike until authorization is given. More- 
over, in the older and more experienced unions the local 
unions are better able to handle negotiations. On the other 
hand, in the newer and poorly disciplined unions there is 
great danger that a strike may occur at any moment. It 
is advisable, therefore, that the deputy should be on the 
ground at the earliest possible moment. 

The function of the deputy is to go to the locality, in- 
vestigate "the alleged matter of complaint," make an 
effort to adjust the matter, if possible, and report to the 
president and the executive board of the national union 
his conclusions as to the situation and recommendations as 
to what course should be pursued. 27 If a strike is author- 
ized, the deputy usually remains on the scene of the trouble 
until recalled by the executive board on the settlement or 
discontinuance of the strike. 28 The agent or deputy is 
a representative of the national union, and his duties can 
be laid down only in a general way. As one writer has said : 
"The man on the ground representing the International 
Union should use his best judgment; it does not matter 
whether he agrees with the local strike committee or not. 
If capable and experienced he is supposed to lead and not 
to follow. It's his duty to stand by the International 
Union regardless of consequences; to protect the funds 
against waste and extravagance, and to maintain its repu- 
tation for a 'square deal' with union manufacturers." 29 
The deputy must be received by the local union, for if he 
is not permitted to perform his duties, strike benefits may 

26 Proceedings, 1903, p. 5. 

27 Thirty-ninth Annual Report of the President and Secretary of 
the Bricklayers' and Masons' International Union, 1904, p. 71. 

28 Proceedings of the Bricklayers' and Masons' International Union, 
1903, pp. 115, 116. 

29 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, September 15, 1908, p. 1. 



26 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [364 

be withheld by the national union and no further assistance 
granted. 30 A strike entered into by a union after refusing 
the offices of a national deputy would be illegal and would 
subject the local union to a fine or a loss of charter. 31 

The deputy, while keeping in close communication with 
the national officials, is given considerable latitude in the 
exercise of his own judgment. This is especially true in 
the conduct and termination of strikes. The initiation of a 
strike is generally on the advice of the deputy and by 
authorization of the executive board. In an emergency 
requiring quick action questions even of strike initiation 
must at times be decided by the deputy. In only a few 
unions, however, is the possibility of such an emergency 
contemplated by the constitution or rules. In the Actors' 
International Union authority is given to its four national 
district deputies, who visit the local unions, inspect the 
books, collect money, and act as organizers, to act on 
their own responsibility in cases of extreme urgency. 
Before calling a strike involving the union in a lockout, or 
placing any house on the unfair list, the deputy must call a 
meeting of at least seven members of the local union or 
unions interested. Notice of this emergency action must 
be given immediately to all members of such local union or 
unions. 32 

In all the unions that have adopted the "deputy system" 
it is regarded as important that the deputy should be on 
the ground before a strike is begun. It is required, there- 
fore, that the members involved continue at work pending 
investigation and until a final decision has been reached. 
The rule has worked well; for any dispute can be more 
easily adjusted before an actual breach has occurred. 
President Martin Fox of the Iron Molders observed that 
this rule "has strengthened the position of the Union and 
proven beneficial in all cases." 33 President Menger of the 

30 Cigar Makers' International Union, Constitution, 1886, art. vi, 
sec. 22. 

31 See chapter on The Independent Strike. 

32 Constitution, 1910, sees. 83, 117. 

33 Proceedings, 1895, p. 6. 



365] CONTROL BY NATIONAL DEPUTY 2^] 

Operative Potters in an interview with the writer said: 
"If an international officer can get on the ground before a 
grievance has assumed large proportions and before either 
side has committed itself, a settlement can be more readily 
brought about than if the affair is allowed to go on." 

A representative coming in from the outside is frequently 
able to compose differences which the parties themselves 
cannot settle. Those who are involved in a quarrel are not 
the best qualified to appraise its merits. Investigation 
by a party not previously involved is almost always help- 
ful. The agent or deputy acts as a mediator between the 
local union and the employer, and is often able to eliminate 
the local prejudice or personal feeling between the two 
parties. It is true that the deputy comes as the friend of 
the union; but he takes into account other considerations 
than the success of the local union. As a representative of 
the national union, he must consider whether the local 
union is justified in its demands, and whether the demands 
have been made in the proper spirit. All of these considera- 
tions make him a mediating element more or less inde- 
pendent of the local union. 

In many of the national unions the members turn more 
and more to the national officers in case of grievance, 
lockout, or strike. President Garretson of the Railway 
Conductors reports: "One of the developments of our 
work is that a much greater amount of time is consumed in 
the settlement of difficulties than was formerly the case 
and on account of this development the staff of officers 
has not been large enough to meet the demands made 
upon it. Notwithstanding this, the results accomplished 
speak for themselves." 34 The Bricklayers and Masons 
have experienced also a wide expansion of the special deputy 
system. 35 The president, the vice-presidents, and the 
secretary have all been kept busy at this work for some 
years. President Bowen in one of his reports states that 
on account of the demands on his time for such work he 

34 Proceedings, 1909, p. 32. 

35 Annual Report, 1906, p. 6. 



28 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [366 

had been in his office at headquarters less than two months 
out of thirteen. The officials of the Bricklayers say: 
"This [the special deputy] system has been crowned with 
the highest success, it has now become a part of the organic 
law of the organization, and the words 'special deputy* 
and 'arbitration' are a tower of strength." 

The use of the national deputy has spread and is found 
today in some form in sixty-five national unions. Wherever 
the national union really controls strikes, some personal 
representative of the national union has been found neces- 
sary. In those unions which are so weak that they can 
give no aid to their local unions when on strike there is no 
control of strikes and hence no need for a national deputy. 






CHAPTER III 

Arbitration and Control 

Human nature in labor organizations is much the same 
as elsewhere. Trade unions include radical, pugnacious, 
and emotional elements moved more by sentiment than 
by reason. Most national unions, therefore, provide that 
before an application for strike sanction on the part of a 
local union can be even considered, every effort for a settle- 
ment of the grievance must have been put forth. The 
general rule is that the local union must endeavor to adjust 
either by conciliation or, if that fails, by an offer to arbitrate, 
any difficulty that may arise. Two forms of arbitration 
may be distinguished: the general requirement of arbi- 
tration, and agreements specifically requiring the arbitra- 
tion of any dispute. 

Agitation for conciliation and arbitration as substitutes 
for strikes began quite early. The Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Spinners' Association of New England at its organ- 
ization in 1858 declared that one of its objects was "to 
prevent strikes through the medium of arbitration" by 
referring all disputes if possible to arbitrators whose deci- 
sions should be final. 1 A National Labor Congress com- 
posed of delegates from various trade unions was held in 
Baltimore in 1866, and one of its committees made a report 
discountenancing strikes except "when all means for an 
amicable adjustment have been exhausted." The com- 
mittee recommended the appointment of an arbitration 
committee by each trades assembly for the adjustment of 
disputes, in the belief that "the earlier adoption of such 
a system would have prevented a majority of those ill- 
advised so-called strikes." 2 In 1873 an Industrial Congress 

1 Constitution, 1858, pp. 4-8. 

2 International Journal [Iron Molders], September, 1866, p. 180. 

29 



30 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [368 

made up of representatives of various trade unions, which 
met at Cleveland, endorsed the idea of arbitration as a sub- 
stitute for strikes, which were declared to be usually detri- 
mental to both parties engaged in them, and recommended 
that all unions should adopt a^system of arbitration. 3 

The Cigar Makers in 1873 passed a rule empowering the 
national president to order any local union in case of 
difficulties to select a board of • arbitration. President 
Cannon in commenting on this rule says that he was 
opposed to any and all strikes unless arbitration had first 
been attempted. 4 In 1872 the Iron Molders incorporated 
in their constitution a rule making it compulsory on the 
local union in case of differences in regard to prices or wages 
to ask the employer to refer the matter to arbitration. 5 
The offer of arbitration was to be made in writing and 
under the seal of the local union, for otherwise the offer 
would not be recognized by the national union and a 
strike circular would not be issued. This rule was intended 
to fix the responsibility for the rejection of peaceful 
methods. 6 The Lasters' Protective Association, organized 
in 1879, laid emphasis upon arbitration and settled many 
difficulties without resort to strike. 7 A member of the 
Granite Cutters' Association proposed in 1882 that, since 
many strikes were instituted to resist reductions in wages, 
a board of arbitration should be formed to study the 
conditions of the market, and that if a reduction was found 
to be necessary, work should go on at reduced wages until 
business improved. 8 

A considerable number of national unions at present 
have in their constitutions rules requiring that an offer to 
arbitrate shall be made before a strike can be called. The 
Cement Workers, for instance, provide that no sanction 
shall be given to any strike o r lockout until all possible 

3 International Journal [Iron Molders], July, 1873, pp. 36-41. 

4 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, September 18, 1873, p. 6; Consti- 
tution, 1873, p. 58. 

6 Iron Molders' Journal, September 10, 1876, p. 87. 

6 Ibid., August, 1874, P- 9- 

7 G. E. McNeill, in Union Boot and Shoe Worker, March, 1900, p. 8. 

8 Granite Cutters' Journal, December, 1882, p. 2. 



369] ARBITRATION AND CONTROL 3 1 

efforts to arbitrate the difficulty have failed. 9 The Piano 
and Organ Workers make efforts for arbitration compulsory 
before any strike can be considered legal. 10 

The value of such rules, however, does not appear to be 
very great. The officers of the national union, wherever 
they have full control of strikes, can offer to arbitrate if 
that policy appears to be wise. Before the national union 
had acquired complete control of strikes an attempt was 
made to lessen the number of strikes by the adoption of 
rules requiring an offer of arbitration. Where such control 
exists an arbitrary rule of this kind is valueless. Conse- 
quently, the rule persists chiefly in unions in which the 
control of the national union is slight. 

Of far more importance than the general requirement of 
the arbitration of disputed questions is the increasing 
insistence by a number of national unions that all local 
agreements shall contain provisions for arbitration. The 
Bricklayers have been foremost in this policy. A dis- 
astrous strike of the local unions in New York City in 1884, 
entered into without compliance with rules and against 
the advice of the executive board of the Bricklayers and 
Masons, led after much discouragement, great disorganiza- 
tion, and complete bankruptcy to an agreement in 1885 
with the Mason Builders' Association as to recognition of 
the local unions, wages and hours of labor for one year, 
and the formation of a joint arbitration committee to 
meet weekly to settle disputes between employers and 
employees. 11 The results of this arrangement led the 
convention of 1887 to require that all local unions should 
have rules to provide boards of arbitration for joint arbi- 
tration with the employers. 12 A proposal from the National 
Association of Builders for an arbitration agreement and 
committee was, however, rejected in 1891. 13 The con- 
vention of 1897 made it mandatory upon the local unions 

9 Constitution, 1903, art. xiii. 

10 Constitution, 1911, art. vi, sec. 18. 

11 Proceedings, 1885, pp. 15-23; 1886, pp. 16-20. 

12 Proceedings, 1887, p. 145. 

13 Proceedings, 1891, p. 141. 



32 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [37O 

to provide for the arbitration of disputes by a joint board 
of arbitration, and to keep at work pending the adjust- 
ment of differences. 14 

These rules have led to the making of a number of local 
arbitration agreements and have been found on the whole 
to work well in practice. The New York agreement of 
the Bricklayers and Masons, made in 1885 and renewed 
from time to time, averted strikes down to 1904 when a 
strike in violation of the agreement by local union No. 67 
was settled by a general officer. 15 

The Carpenters and Joiners also provide for arbitration 
agreements. In an agreement between the Carpenters 
and Builders' Association and the United Carpenters' 
Council of Chicago in 1891 there were provisions for con- 
tinuous work pending settlement by joint committees of 
arbitration, except that work might be stopped by the 
joint order in writing of the presidents of the respective 
associations until the decision of the joint arbitration com- 
mittee was given. 16 The secretary of the Carpenters de- 
clared in 1890 that many strikes had been prevented by 
these methods. 17 Among other national unions whose 
local unions are encouraged or required to include arbi- 
tration clauses in their agreements are the Bakery and 
Confectionery Workers, the Barbers, the Brewery Workers, 
the Granite Cutters, the Hotel and Restaurant Workers, 
the Horseshoers, the Machinists, the Pavers, the Steam 
Engineers, the Steam Fitters, the Teamsters, the Tile 
Layers, and the Tobacco Workers. 

In the greater part of the unions which require the 
insertion of the arbitration clause in local agreements 
arbitration is purely with reference to the interpretation 
of the agreement. In certain trades, however, where the 
union label is used, the whole question of wages is relegated 
to arbitration. The agreement does not, therefore, cover 

14 Proceedings, 1897, pp. 70-72; Constitution, 1897, art. x, sec. 6. 

15 Thirty-ninth Annual Report of the President and Secretary, 1904, 
pp. 219-229. 

16 Articles of Agreement, 1891, pp. 1, 2. 

17 Proceedings, 1890, p. I. 



37 1 J ARBITRATION AND CONTROL 33 

the conditions of employment, but merely provides a me- 
chanism for settling all disputes. The Boot and Shoe 
Workers and the Glove Workers have this form of agree- 
ment, and bind themselves to accept the results of arbi- 
tration and to furnish workers in case any of their members 
refuse to comply. 18 

Many local agreements, however, contain no arbitration 
clauses. The assistant mediator of the State of New York 
reported in 1908 that of the one hundred and twenty-two 
copies of trade agreements received during that year by 
the New York Bureau of Labor, sixty-six had no provision 
for arbitration in case of any dispute between employers 
and employees. "We are firmly convinced that if all 
trade agreements had such a clause many strikes could 
be avoided. Commissioner Lundigran has decided to send 
a letter to employers and unions having such agreements 
calling their attention to the fact and urging them at the 
expiration of existing agreements on their renewal or the 
making of new agreements to insert such a clause." 19 

There is some reason to believe that there is a growing 
tendency to insert such clauses in local agreements. The 

18 The following clauses in the local agreement of the Chicago Glove 
Workers, 191 1, illustrate this class of arbitration clauses. 

"Fifth: — It is mutually agreed that the Union will not cause or 
sanction any strike, and that the employer will not lockout his em- 
ployees while this agreement is in force. All questions of wages or 
conditions of labor which cannot be mutually agreed upon, or any 
difference which may arise between the parties, the adjustment of 
which is not otherwise provided for, shall be submitted to an arbi- 
tration board of five, the employer to choose two, the union two, and 
the four to choose a fifth member. The decision of a majority of this 
Board of Arbitration shall be final and binding upon the Employer, 
the Union, and the Employees, and pending settlement by arbitration, 
the work and conditions are to continue in the same manner as there- 
tofore. 

"The Employer and the Union are each to pay the expense of their 
own arbitrators. Any other expense, first agreed upon, in connection 
with such arbitration is to be borne jointly by the Union and the 
Employer, and the Employees, and pending settlement by arbitration, 
the work and conditions are to continue in the same manner as thereto. 

"Sixth: — The Union agrees, if requested by the Employer so to do, 
to assist the Employer in procuring competent glove workers to fill the 
places of any employees who refuse to abide by Section Five of the 
Agreement." 

19 Granite Cutters' Journal, March, 1909, p. 2. 



34 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [372 

statistics compiled by the New York State Department of 
Labor appear to show this. 20 The principle of arbitration 
has, moreover, been adopted in several local agreements 
of great importance. The most notable instance of this 
kind is the 1910 agreement in the cloak, suit, and skirt 
industry in New York City. In that year, in settling a 
strike, a protocol or treaty of peace was made between 
the Cloak, Suit and Manufacturers' Protective Association 
and various local unions of the International Ladies' 
Garment Workers' Union acting with the advice and 
assistance of the national officers. The main point of the 
agreement is that no strike or lockout shall take place. 
In case of failure to settle any dispute a board of arbitration 
is provided for, consisting of one nominee of the manu- 
facturers, one nominee of the unions, and one representative 
of the public. In addition to the board of arbitration a 
board of grievances and a system of deputy clerks repre- 
senting both the manufacturers and the unions were insti- 
tuted, and thus by means of conciliation and mediation 
most of the grievances that have arisen have been settled. 
Mr. Charles H. Winslow says: "Only one-tenth of 1 per 
cent of the grand total number of cases that have arisen 
were referred for final adjudication to the board of arbi- 
tration, the supreme court of the trade." 21 

A greater measure of control of strikes is gained when 
the general union enters into an agreement directly with 
the employers. The earliest of these so-called national 
agreements were those entered into by Chief Arthur with 
various railroads on behalf of the Locomotive Engineers in 
1873 and continued until the present day, when they are 
participated in by all the railroad brotherhoods. These 
agreements, aside from the details concerning wages and 
hours which do not concern us, contain clauses providing 
for right of appeal and arbitration in case of dispute. The 
general rules of the brotherhoods provide for discipline in 
case of the violation of any contract by members. The 

20 New York State Department of Labor, Annual Report, 191 1, 
vol. i, part iii, pp. 577-641. 

21 Bulletin, Bureau of Labor Statistics, no. 144, March 19, 1914, p. 9. 



3731 ARBITRATION AND CONTROL 35 

Locomotive Engineers, the Locomotive Firemen and 
Enginemen, the Railway Conductors, the Railroad Train- 
men, and the Railroad Telegraphers, after their local 
and general committees and national representatives have 
failed to bring about an adjustment of difficulties, usually 
appeal to the mediators designated in the Erdmann (now 
the Newlands) Act. In case the mediation proceedings 
are ineffective, the dispute may go to arbitration. This 
appeal is usually preceded by a strike vote; but this is not 
necessary in presenting the dispute, as the mediators are 
governed by the gravity of an existing situation in deciding 
whether or not it should be considered. 22 The settlement 
by arbitration of the controversy between the Locomotive 
Engineers in 191 2 and the Locomotive Firemen in 191 3 
and the eastern railroads of the United States is an illustra- 
tion of the working of this act. The Iron Molders entered 
into agreements with the Stove Founders' National Defense 
Association in 1891, and the National Founders' Associa- 
tion in 1899, providing for continuance at work pending 
investigation and consideration of any grievance by a joint 
board. 23 A resolution passed at the 1899 convention and 
embodied in the constitution as a standing resolution de- 
clares that conciliation is an established policy of the union. 24 
The results of the agreement with the National Founders' 
Association were, however, unsatisfactory, and led to the 
abrogation of the agreement. 25 

During the eighties a national uniform wage scale agree- 
ment was effected by the American Flint Glass Workers' 
Union and later by the Amalgamated Glass Workers, the 
Glass Bottle Blowers, and the Window Glass Cutters and 
Flatteners. A plan for the arbitration of disputes by a 
joint committee was submitted to the Ohio Valley Stone 
Contractors' Association by the secretary-treasurer of the 

22 C. P. Neill, "Mediation and Arbitration of Railway Labor Dis- 
putes," in Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, January, 1912, pp. 6, 14. 

23 Proceedings, 1890, p. 69; 1895, pp. 13-16; 1899, p. 6. 

24 Proceedings, 1899, p. 126. 

25 Proceedings, 1902, pp. 609, 611. 



36 CONTROL OF STRIKES IX AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [374 

Stone Cutters in 1892 and resulted in a mutual agreement. 26 
The Operative Potters, after a disastrous strike in 1894, at 
their convention of the same year first discussed the making 
of an agreement with the manufacturers, and after several 
years of discussion an agreement was entered into, to go 
into effect in 1900. This agreement has been renewed 
annually and no general strike has ensued. 27 The general 
executive board of the Bricklayers and Masons since 
December, 1900, has entered into agreements with con- 
tractors in various parts of the country providing that all 
differences that may arise be sent to headquarters for ad- 
justment. Pending the same, no strike can be entered 
upon by the members. Since 1901 there have been agree- 
ments between the International Typographical, the Inter- 
national Printing Pressmen's, the International Stere- 
otypers and Electrotypers' Unions and the American 
Newspaper Publishers' Association, and since 1905 similar 
agreement has been made by the same association with the 
International Photo-Engravers' Union. The Coopers' In- 
ternational Union has had such agreements with the 
Machine Coopers' Employers' Association since 1905, and 
the Xational Association of Machine Printers and Color 
Mixers of the United States with the Wall Paper Manu- 
facturers' Association since 1909. Practically the entire 
membership of the United Mine Workers outside of the 
anthracite field is working under district agreements. 
In 1898 at a joint interstate convention at Chicago an agree- 
ment was made covering the States of Illinois. Indiana, 
Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 25 A similar agreement was made 
in 1903 in the southwestern field covering Missouri, Kansas, 
Arkansas, and Indian Territory. 29 The Coal Hoisting 

25 Monthly Circular [Stone Cutters J, February, 1892, Supplement, 
p. 3: March. p L l. 

27 T. J. Duffy, History of the Brotherhood of Operative Potters, 
pp. 19-36. 

2s Proceedings, 1899, pp. 8, 9. 

29 Joint Interstate Agreement, 1906. p. 12; Decisions of Joint Boards 
of Miners and Operators of Iowa, 1906; Proceedings, 1904. pp. 27-28. 
President John Mitchell said in 1904: " In no instance has a strike taken 
place in advance of which we have not made overtures for peace and 
exhausted every conciliatory measure at our command" (Proceedings, 
1904. P- 30). 



375] ARBITRATION AND CONTROL 37 

Engineers had agreements with the Illinois Coal Operators' 
Association from 1901 to 1903 providing for the reference 
of disputes to officials of both organizations. 30 The Inter- 
national Longshoremen's Association have also since 1900 
entered into various agreements. 31 The Granite Cutters 
entered into an agreement in 1907 with the National 
Association of the Granite Industry of the United States. 32 
In the national and district agreements made between 
national unions and employers' associations the national 
union and the employers' association ordinarily covenant 
that there shall be no cessation of work pending an attempt 
to adjust the dispute by the conference boards made up of 
an equal number of representatives from each side. The 
usual rule is that if the conference board fails to agree, 
either side may take such action as it sees fit. Very little 
has been done in the direction of providing for arbitration 
in the event that the board cannot agree. The national 
and district agreements obviously throw the control of 
strikes into the hands of the national union, since the 
national union makes the agreement and is responsible for 
its observance. There is a tendency, therefore, where 
such agreements exist for the national union gradually to 
extend its discipline over the local unions. 

30 Agreements, 1901-1903. 

31 Agreements, 1911-1912, p. 2. 

32 Granite Cutters' Journal, July, 1907, p. 2; September, 1907, p. 2; 
January, 1908, p. 2. 



V. 



CHAPTER IV 

The Initiation of Strikes 

The general usage in strike initiation is that the local 
union make some effort at adjustment of grievances with 
employers before entering on a strike. If the local union 
fails in the endeavor to settle a difficulty by conciliation or 
arbitration, a representative of the national union is sent 
to the place. If the national deputy system does not exist, 
a full report of the difficulty is sent to the general executive 
board of the national union with a request for advice or, 
more usually, for sanction to strike. In unions where local 
autonomy exists the supervision of the national union is, 
of course, not very rigid, but in unions where there is 
centralization of control the local union must follow the 
directions of the national union. 1 

In a number of national unions the local unions must 
meet the following requirements before they are allowed 
to strike with the consent or support of the national union : 
All local unions involved must have been affiliated with the 
national union a certain length of time; they must have 
paid all dues or assessments, or they must be paying a 
certain amount of dues. The period of affiliation required 
varies from three months to one year, the usual rule being 
six months. The purpose of the second requirement is 
apparent, while the third is found in unions such as the 
Bakers, the Book Binders, the Brewery Workers, and 
the Hotel and Restaurant Workers, whose members do 
not pay uniform dues. 

The reason for these rules, especially the first, lies in the 
fact that new local unions, before becoming thoroughly 
organized, are generally impatient for results and expect 

1 See the following chapter on The Independent Strike. 

38 



377] THE INITIATION OF STRIKES 39 

to achieve in a short time what has cost other older local 
unions long continued effort. The probability of defeat 
for a local union involved in a strike soon after organiza- 
tion is strong, and is given by some as the main reason for 
these rules. "The union had just been formed, and very 
frequently there are men that think it is a part of their 
existence to give the boss a squeeze every time there is an 
opportunity," said a general officer of the Coopers' Union 
in regard to an inexcusable strike in 1871. 2 "The policy 
of the parent bodies in this respect is the result of long 
and costly experience," says an editorial in the Car Worker, 
ending with the declaration that "conditions, not theories, 
should govern." 3 Secretary O'Dea, in recommending 
to the convention of 1886 of the Bricklayers and Masons 
the replacement in the constitution of the time provision 
left out through some oversight for several years, said: 
"The object being to guard against the admission of a 
Union for selfish purposes, and to show their good intention 
of remaining with us." 4 The president of the Cement 
Workers complained in 1907, in regard to some trouble he 
had been summoned to adjust, that some members wanted 
to get everything at once, and that new local unions, as 
soon as they got cards, expected the employer to concede 
everything. New local unions, he said, are told that they 
should remember that it has taken years of hard work and 
untold sacrifices to secure the conditions enjoyed by the 
older local unions. 5 An additional reason for the rules is 
the fact that when zeal carries a new local union into a strike 
and defeat ensues, reorganization is likely to be more diffi- 
cult than was the building up of the local union in the first 
place. 

The constitutional rules governing the action of local 
unions in regard to difficulties provide as far as possible 
for a calm and rational consideration of the question of a 

2 Coopers' Journal, July, 1871, p. 283. 

3 The Car Worker, September, 1903, p. 3. 

4 Proceedings, 1886, p. 49. 

5 Proceedings, 1907, p. 7. 



40 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [378 

strike. 6 In most unions members must be notified by 
mail or in person, or other sufficient notice given of any- 
meeting of a local union where a strike vote is to be taken 
or considered. In some unions, like the Painters, the 
Operative Plasterers, the Stogie Makers, and the Tile 
Layers, notice ranging from ten to ninety days must be 
given an employer before enforcing a demand. The usual 
requirement is that a special meeting shall be called for the 
particular consideration of any grievance and the taking 
of a strike vote. 

The requirement of most of the national unions is that 
in voting upon a strike a secret ballot shall be taken. 
The Teamsters provide explicitly that "the ballot taken 
must be by 'yes' or 'no,' written on paper ballots." 7 Unan- 
imous strike votes usually arouse the suspicion at the 
general union headquarters that the vote was not taken 
in accordance with the rules. Members in order to vote 
must be in good standing and must have been members of 
the local union for at least a certain period, varying from 
three to six months in different unions. The Granite 
Cutters provided in 1880 that the officers of local branches 
should "consult together and, if necessary, adjourn any 
meeting of importance when, in their judgment, the mem- 
bers are laboring under too much excitement to vote 
understandingly . ' ' 8 

In most unions a decisive vote is required to strike, and 
this vote must be more than a mere majority. The general 
requirement is that a two-thirds majority is necessary, 
while a large number of unions require a three-fourths 

6 Rules to govern the initiation of strikes were formulated as early 
as 1854 by the Journeymen Stone Cutters' Association. A two-thirds 
majority vote of members present was necessary to sanction a strike 
for higher wages, while a mere majority only was necessary against a 
reduction (Constitution and By-Laws, 1854, art. viii). In 1858 the 
Baltimore branch applied to the executive for permission to strike on 
the first Monday in June if necessary. The local secretary said: "At 
the same time we wish to say, if we are granted the power to strike 
on the aforesaid date, we shall in all probability defer it, if at that time 
we think our chances of success are doubtful" (Stone Cutters' Circular, 
April, 1858, p. 2). 

7 Constitution, 1910, sec. 62. 

8 Constitution, 1880, art. xiii. 



379] THE INITIATION OF STRIKES 41 

majority. The Coopers require four-fifths, and the Rail- 
road Clerks sixty per cent. 

In some unions strike votes are taken in asking for 
sanction to strike, and if the decision of the general execu- 
tive board or the referendum vote is favorable the strike 
can be called at once; but in the larger number of unions 
the strike vote can be taken only after a favorable reply 
has been received from the general executive board. The 
Brewery Workers require that after the consent of the 
national executive board to a strike has been obtained, 
the question shall be considered by the local union; a vote 
must be taken by ballot, and a two-thirds majority is 
required to make a strike legal. 9 Other unions such as the 
Bookbinders, the Plate Printers, and the Theatrical Stage 
Employees require that a meeting to take action must be 
called by the president of the local union interested within 
twenty-four hours after a strike has been authorized by the 
general executive board. 

Many national unions insist that when there is more 
than one local union in a city or district a joint meeting 
must be held before any strike can be ordered. The 
Bricklayers and Masons in 1885 adopted such a rule at 
their convention, and provided that a two-thirds majority 
of all those voting should be necessary before any strike 
could be declared. 10 The Brush Makers and the Metal 
Polishers do not allow the calling in of a general officer until 
such a conference has been held. The Amalgamated 
Woodworkers provide that at such a general meeting the 
difficulty be considered and arrangements made for the 
management of the strike, should the necessary three- 
fourths vote favor such action. 11 The usual practice is for 
local unions situated near together to maintain some form 
of standing organization, variously denominated district 
union, district council, conference board, joint executive 
board, joint standing committee, joint advisory board, 
district executive board, joint council, local joint executive 



9 Constitution, 1910, art. x, sec. 12. 

10 Proceedings, 1885, p. 88. 

11 Constitution, 1905, art. v, sec. 126. 



42 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [}^0 

board, or local council. Some such form of organization, 
together with reference thereto of grievances and prelimi- 
naiy action in regard to strikes, is required by some fifty 
general unions. 

These standing boards or committees are made up in 
various ways. The Bookbinders provide that the com- 
mittee shall consist of not less than two members from 
each local union, and that its duty* shall be to meet at least 
once a month and report to the executive council of the 
national union the conditions of trade and to endeavor to 
adjust any difficulty- that may arise. 12 In the Brewery 
rkers the basis of representation is as follows: Each 
local union is entitled to a delegate for every one hundred 
members or fraction thereof, but no local union has a right 
to send more than five delegates. In localities where no 
quorum can be constituted on the basis of representation 
as given above, the different unions are required to form a 
joint local executive board, consisting of seven delegates, 
who are to be elected by the different local unions in pro- 
portion to their respective membership. 13 The Piano and 
Organ Workers and the Steam Engineers provide for equal 
representation from each local union. 

The district councils and district unions limit the power 
of the local unions and extend the control of the national 
union over strikes. They have full power usually to 
adjust all differences between local unions and their em- 
ployers subject to the approval of the general executive 
board, which has usually sole power to call a strike. The 
Bakery and Confectionery Workers, the Bookbinders, 
the Broom Makers, and a few other unions provide that 
an acieal can be taken by a local union to the general 
executive board when permission to strike is denied by the 
district union. The authority of these district organiza- 
tions is limited directly by the rule of the national union 
which requires that all by-laws and trade rules of such 
organizations must be approved by the national officials, 

u Constitution, 19 10, art. x, sec. 8. 
11 Constitution, 1910, art. iv, sec 1. 



381] THE INITIATION OF STRIKES 43 

or at least that such rules must not violate any provision 
of the national constitution. All these conditions make 
the authority of the national union paramount. 

In some national unions, however, the authority of the 
district union is more extensive. The joint executive board 
in the Piano and Organ Workers, for example, can order a 
strike if more than a thousand members are involved. 14 
The district unions of the United Mine Workers of America 
have power to declare strikes and some of them have paid 
large amounts of strike benefits ; but the tendency is towards 
control by the national officers, especially when strike 
benefits are paid by the national organization. 15 The 
same thing is true to a large extent of the district lodges 
of the International Association of Machinists and of the 
International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers. A large 
degree of control is exercised by the district committees 
of the Amalgamated Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of America 
and the International Tin Plate Workers' Protective Asso- 
ciation of America. Such committees have power after 
investigation to legalize a strike, but this degree of local 
autonomy is more apparent than real because one of the 
four members of the committee is a national officer, a vice- 
president of the national union. 

The above examples are exceptions to the general rule, 
and the tendency is toward national control. President 
John McNeil of the Boiler Makers declared in 1899 that 
district lodges should not call strikes and that discipline 
must be maintained, 16 while at the 1908 convention of the 
same body President Dunn recommended that their 
authority be strictly limited. 17 

In those unions where local autonomy is complete, 
neither referendum nor action by the general executive 
board is necessary to sanction a strike; but, as has already 
been pointed out, the larger number of national unions 

14 Proceedings, 1902, p. 90. 

15 Proceedings, 191 1, pp. 468-511. 

"Journal of the Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron Ship- 
builders, October, 1899, P- 3*0. 
17 Ibid., July, 1908, p. 429. 



44 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [382 

require executive consent even in cases when strike bene- 
fits are not paid by the national organization. The 
tendency is to make the decisions of the general executive 
boards binding upon the local unions. The right of appeal 
is, however, allowed by some national unions, but pending 
the appeal the local union must abide by the decision of 
the board. In certain emergencies some national unions 
permit, however, a local union to go on strike without the 
consent of the general executive board. A local union of 
the Blacksmiths has the power in case of emergency to 
call a strike, if approved by the local executive board of the 
district council, provided such an emergency strike does 
not involve more than ten men. But if the difficulty in- 
volves more than ten members, no strike can take place 
without the consent of the general president and the 
executive board. 18 The Coopers provide that in case of 
discrimination by an employer against a member or in 
case of reduction of the scale of wages and hours the local 
union may declare a strike without sanction from the 
general office. 19 The general president and the secretary- 
treasurer of the Bookbinders have the right to sanction a 
strike when immediate action is considered absolutely 
necessary, but only in that case. 20 The Paving Cutters 
likewise direct their executive officer, the secretary, to 
support members in resisting any condition forced by an 
employer if instant action is necessary. 21 

Certain definite rules limiting the number of strikes are 
maintained by a number of national unions. One such 
restraint is the provision forbidding strikes during certain 
seasons of the year when trade is apt to be dull. The 
Bricklayers and Masons passed a resolution at their con- 
vention of 1 87 1 that no aid should be given by the national 
union to any local union striking between the 15th of 
November and the 15th of March. 22 The Cigar Makers 

18 Constitution, 1909, art. viii, sec. I. 

19 Constitution, 1910, sec. 60. 

20 Constitution, 1910, art. x, sec. 3. 

21 Constitution, 1909, art. xvii, sec. 1. 

22 Proceedings, 1871, p. 25. 



383] THE INITIATION OF STRIKES 45 

in 1 88 1 provided for the suspension of applications for an 
increase of wages from November 1, 1881, until April 1, 
1882, 23 and at the 1884 convention an annual suspension 
was made a part of the constitution. 24 In 1885 the rule 
was changed so that the time of suspension varied with 
geographical location. 25 Strikes are now forbidden during 
the months mentioned, except in the States of Virginia, 
South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, where strikes are for- 
bidden from April 1 to October 1 of any year. The Car- 
penters and Joiners likewise provided in 1890 that no gen- 
eral strike should be sanctioned from November 1 to April 
I. 26 One of the general officers declared at the 1890 con- 
vention that no greater danger confronted the organization 
than unsanctioned strikes begun too early in the season. 
"Carpenters cannot and should not strike at the same time 
in the season as Masons and Bricklayers. Our work comes 
after theirs, and our demands should not be made until the 
new work is well under way. Early strikes are attended 
almost universally by defeat." 27 The Sheet Metal Workers 
passed a rule in 1891 that, except in case of extreme provo- 
cation, no strike should be declared between the first day of 
January and the first day of June of any year. 28 Various 
changes were made from time to time in the dates at which 
the no-strike period began and ended, and the rule was 
finally dropped at the revision of the constitution in 1903. 
The Piano Workers also do not sanction strikes for an 
increase of wages between the first day of June and the 
first day of August, and the first day of January and the 
first day of March of any year. Exceptions are made, 
however, in the case of strikes against a reduction of wages 

23 " Resolved, That all local unions suspend applications for an 
increase of wages from the commencement of November 1st, 1881, 
until April 1st, 1882. This shall not be binding upon unions, who 
are compelled to strike against those who have the 'truck' system, 
reduction of wages, and 'lockouts' forced on them by their employers." 

24 Constitution, 1884, p. 20. 

25 Constitution, 1886, p. 15. 

26 Constitution, 1890, p. 17. 

27 Proceedings, 1890, p. 20. 

28 Constitution, 1891, art. xiii, sec. 17. 



46 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [384 

or against the introduction of the truck system or the 
contract system. 29 

In addition to these specific rules, the policy of most 
strong unions is against strikes during periods of trade 
depression. Chief Arthur of the Locomotive Engineers 
declared in 1894 i n regard to the Chicago Railroad strike 
of that year that the brotherhood had nothing to do with 
it as an organization and that any man encouraging a 
strike during hard times was unfit to be at the head of 
any labor organization. "There is a time to strike if you 
have a good cause and there is a time not to strike." 30 
The general council of the Amalgamated Woodworkers 
reported in 1896 that they had discouraged applications 
for strike sanction because they believed "that the time, 
condition of trade, and other factors militated against the 
probability of success and, knowing how injurious lost 
strikes are, we adopted a policy that was in every sense 
conservative." 31 

A more effective device for the control of strikes is found 
in the limitation of the number which may be carried on 
at one time. A writer in 1836 remarked that two branches 
of the Philadelphia General Trade Union did not strike at 
the same time, and that because "of this policy the general 
fund is not too heavily taxed, and the other branches having 
employment can contribute to it." 32 At the present time, 
the rules of the Blacksmiths 33 give the general executive 
board power to prevent the general president from sanc- 
tioning more than one strike at any one time. The Sheet 
Metal Workers discourage more than one strike at a time, 
but provide that emergencies may be met by the general 
president with the sanction of the executive board as the 
occasion may require. 34 The Tile Layers explicitly limit 

29 Constitution, 1906, art. vi, sec. 16. 

30 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, September, 1894, p. 847. 

31 Proceedings, 1896, p. 189. 

32 J. R. Commons and E. A. Gilmore, Documentary History of 
American Industrial Society, vol. vi, p. 51. 

33 Constitution, 1909, art. v, sec. 4. 

34 Constitution, 1909, art. xii, sec. 3, 



385] THE INITIATION OF STRIKES 47 

the number of strikes at any given time to one. 35 The 
Coopers, 36 the Electrical Workers, 37 and the Operative 
Plasterers 38 do not support more than two strikes at a 
time, the last named union providing that "the first two 
strikes shall be sustained in order as they apply, providing 
the executive board decides their claim is just." 

The gradual growth of the idea of limiting the number of 
strikes is seen in the history of the Bricklayers and Masons 
and of the Carpenters. The secretary of the Bricklayers 
and Masons complained in 1885 that every application to 
strike, if properly drawn and voted for by the local unions, 
was sanctioned and that there was no limit to the number 
of strikes. This produced an " endless amount of confu- 
sion, ill-feeling and misunderstanding" as to strike assess- 
ments. 39 A rule was passed at the 1885 convention to the 
effect that only one local union could strike at a time. 40 
Local unions desiring to go on strike were required to 
wait until any previous application for strike sanction 
had been disposed of. The limitation of one strike at a 
time was changed to three at the 1887 convention. 41 The 
Carpenters and Joiners also at their first annual convention 
in 1 88 1 provided for only one strike at a time. 42 This rule 
was soon repealed, but in 1890 provision was made that 
when any strike or lockout or any number of strikes in- 
volved more than 3000 members no other strike should 
be sustained or financially aided at the same time by the 
national union. 43 The number involved was in 1900 in- 
creased to not over 6000. The Stone Cutters in 1894 sub- 
stituted for the rule forbidding the sanction of more than 
two strikes at one time a new rule which forbade the sanc- 
tioning of new strikes when ten per cent of the membership 
of the national union were on strike. 44 

35 Constitution, 1899, art. xiii, sec. 4. 

36 Constitution, 1910, sec. 69. 

37 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 60. 

38 Constitution, 1910, art. vii, sec. 16. 

39 Proceedings, 1885, p. 34. 

40 Ibid., p. 65. 

41 Proceedings, 1887, p. 139. 

42 Constitution, 1881, art. xx, sec. 4. 

43 Constitution, 1890, sec. 133. 

44 Proceedings, 1894, p. 6. 



48 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [386 

Another device intended to limit the number of strikes 
is the rule which forbids a local union to make a second 
application for strike sanction for the same grievance until 
a certain period of time has elapsed after the disapproval 
of the first. The Cigar Makers" 45 fix the term at three 
months, dating from the rejection of the first, as do the 
Plumbers." 15 while the Piano Workers 47 make the period 
two months and the Blacksmiths 45 one month. 

Another method of limiting strikes is to prohibit all 
strikes for a definite period by a vote of a convention of 
the national union. President SafHn of the Iron Molders 
in 1878, for instance, renewed his recommendation of the 
previous year that strikes cease for one year and the money 
so used be expended in agitation and in building up the 
organization. 49 A resolution was passed at the Carriage 
and Wagon Workers' convention of 1903 to the effect that 
no local union should be permitted to strike for a period 
of one year. 50 At the 1906 convention of the same organiza- 
tion a resolution forbidding strikes for three years was 
offered and. although not adopted, is significant because 
of the reason given for its presentation. The author urged 
its adoption "in order that during a reign of industrial 
peace the craft throughout the country might be thoroughly 
organized and a fund collected and saved to insure success 
to those who by consent of a convention or the Executive 
Board may enter into industrial war." 51 

45 Constitution, 1888, art. vi, sec. 9; 1896, 20th Edition, sec. 87. 

- 5 Constitution. 1910. sec. 171. 

a Constitution, 1906, art. vi, sec. 9. 

- s Constitution, 1909, art. vii, sec. 7. 

48 Proceedings, 1878. p. 7. 

50 Proceedings, 1903. p. 3. 

51 Proceedings, 1906, p. 6. 



CHAPTER V 

The Independent Strike 

The independent or unauthorized strike may be defined 
as a strike inaugurated by the local union without the con- 
sent of the officers of the national union or without com- 
pliance with the rules of the national union. The extent 
of control on the part of the national unions varies to a 
considerable extent: First, there are a number of national 
unions whose local unions have complete autonomy ; second, 
several unions permit the independent strike under certain 
circumstances; third, a large number forbid any strike 
without official sanction. 

In the first group of national unions, that is, those whose 
local unions have complete autonomy, are the Barbers, the 
Blast Furnace Workers and Smelters, the Commercial 
Telegraphers, the Composition Roofers, the Electrical 
Workers, the Hod Carriers and Building Laborers, the 
Print Cutters, the Shipwrights and Joiners, the Slate and 
Tile Roofers, the Steel Plate Transferers, the Wall Paper 
Machine Printers and Color Mixers, the Window Glass 
Cutters and Flatteners, and the Wood, Wire and Metal 
Lathers. 

The absence of any control by the national unions in 
this group may be explained by the fact that as there are 
no defense funds, the local unions must finance their own 
strikes. When, however, the national union pays bene- 
fits, more control is obtained. The Barbers, for instance, 
in 191 1 financed a strike for the first time, and through 
national officers on the ground looked after the interest of 
the national union from the initiation to the close of the 
strike. Even in the absence of benefits there is a tendency 
to discourage hasty or ill-advised strikes. The Hod Car- 
riers passed a resolution at their 191 1 convention that all 
4 49 



50 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [388 

local unions should notify the general office not less than 
one month before going out on strike, and stipulated that 
to receive moral support new local unions must be chartered 
at least six months previous to a strike. 1 

In the second group are found some twenty unions be- 
longing to the building trades which allow their members 
working on a particular building to strike at once when a 
grievance arises. The reason given is that it is necessary 
because of the need of prompt action; if delayed, the 
building will have been completed and the men scattered. 
A building is usually erected by giving the contract to 
one contractor, who sublets to many other contractors. 
A strike on one building involves only a few men, and 
unless it spreads costs but little. The various local unions 
are organized usually in a building-trades council, and if a 
strike is called by one union the rest go out in sympathy. 
A good deal of authority is given to the business agent or 
"walking delegate," at whose discretion such a strike may 
be called. The rise of the large contractor and the making 
of agreements are, however, influences tending to the 
abolition of the single-building strike. The Bricklayers 
and Masons, for instance, prohibit all such sympathetic 
strikes and provide for agreements and arbitration. The 
work of this union is ordinarily under the general con- 
tractor and not under a subcontractor, and as it usually 
comes first in point of time additional strength is thus 
gained in strike control. But even a general local strike 
may be entered into by local organizations among many 
building-trades unions provided they pay their own ex- 
penses and do not appeal to the general union for strike 
benefits. 

Several other national unions, such as the Bill Posters, 
the Brewery Workers, the Cap Makers, the Cloth Weavers, 
the Hotel and Restaurant Workers, the Ladies' Garment 
Workers, the Stogie Makers, the Teamsters, and the 
Theatrical Stage Employees, also allow their local unions 
under certain conditions to strike without the consent 

1 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 19. 



389] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 5 1 

of the national union. The general rule in these unions 
is that in an emergency involving only a small number of 
men or in a case where no financial assistance is expected, 
the local union may strike independently. Local unions 
of the Cloth Weavers, for instance, are allowed to strike 
on their own responsibility for the first four weeks; after 
that time the national union assumes charge of the strike, 
provided that after investigation the local union is found 
to have been justified in striking. 2 No strike benefits are 
paid by the Hotel and Restaurant Workers unless the 
strike has been sanctioned by the general executive board 
before being ordered, but they do not "deprive any of 
their local unions of the right to strike whenever they feel 
their interests can only be served by such a course." The 
local union so striking does so, however, upon its own 
resources and at its own risk, and has no financial claim 
either upon the national union or upon the other local 
unions. Strikes for higher wages may be entered into by 
the local unions of the Stogie Makers without the consent 
of the national executive board if the local union finances 
the strike. 3 The local unions of the Ladies' Garment 
Workers may strike without the moral and financial sup- 
port of the general union, but if more than one local union 
is concerned sanction is necessary. The general officers 
insist, however, that more authority on their part is needed. 4 
The national unions in the third group forbid their local 
unions to go on strike without official sanction. Any strike 
entered upon without such sanction is termed illegal. In 
this group may be found the Brewery Workers, the Brick- 
layers and Masons, the Cigar Makers, the Coopers, the 
Broom Makers, the Brick, Tile, and Terra Cotta Workers, 
the Compressed Air Workers, the Cutting Die and Cutter 
Makers, the Elastic Goring Weavers, the Elevator Con- 
structors, the Glove Workers, the Hatters, the Iron, Steel 
and Tin Workers, the Machinists, the Maintenance of 
Way Employees, the Meat Cutters, the Metal Polishers, 

2 Constitution, 1909, p. 7. 

* Constitution, 1909, art. v, sec. 7. 

* Constitution, 1911, pp. 39-40; Proceedings, 1910, p. 19. 



52 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [39O 

the Iron Molders, the Paper Makers, the Pulp Workers, the 
Pavers, the Paving Cutters, the Printers, the Quarry 
Workers, the Locomotive Engineers, the Locomotive Fire- 
men, the Railroad Trainmen, the Railroad Telegraphers, 
the Railroad Expressmen, the Retail Clerks, the Saw Smiths, 
the Seamen, the Slate Workers, the Street and Electric 
Railway Employes, the Switchmen, the Tin Plate Workers, 
the United Mine Workers, the United Powder Workers, the 
Wire Weavers, the Window Glass Workers, the Flint Glass 
Workers, the Printing Pressmen, the Photo-Engravers, 
and the Operative Potters. 

The abolition in this third group of the independent 
strike on the part of local unions has been brought about 
only after many years of effort and experimentation. The 
evolution which in many respects is common to all may 
be best illustrated by a brief consideration of the history 
of several typical organizations. These unions have found 
it necessary to prevent the independent strike because of 
its destructive effects not only on the local union but also 
on the national organization. In addition, the influence 
of agreements and of the sympathetic strike has been 
particularly important in bringing the independent strike 
to an end. 

The Iron Molders have always been a militant union. 
As early as 1866 one of their local unions declared its 
intention to strike with or without permission of the 
national union. 5 President Saffin declared in 1873 that 
the greatest drawback for many years to their progress as 
an organization had been the large number of illegal strikes 
and that the progress of the three preceding years had 
been due to the rigid enforcement of strike laws. 6 Again 
in 1875 he declared that "strikes in violation of law, ending 
in defeat, always end in the destruction of the union. 
Blind zeal is not enough." 7 Illegal strikes, however, con- 
tinued in spite of these warnings, and the convention of 
1882 placed the sanction of strikes in the hands of the 

5 International Journal [Iron Molders], November, 1866, p. 256. 

6 Ibid., April, 1873, p. I. 

7 Iron Molders' Journal, September, 1875, p. 425. 



39 1 ] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 53 

national president and executive board. To enforce this 
arrangement the penalty of expulsion, afterwards changed 
to suspension, was provided. 8 In 1886 an illegal strike, 
originating in Cincinnati and embracing during its nine 
months' duration many thousand molders in the Central 
West, was a failure on account of trade conditions. It was 
declared again at the convention of 1886 that the inde- 
pendent strike should not be allowed. Local unions, how- 
ever, protested that, if they were held down too closely to 
the rule and had to submit their grievances to the national 
executive board, they would lose their best opportunity to 
strike. 9 Two independent strikes took place in 1901 after 
sanction had been denied by the executive board, — "the 
first instance in many years," declared President Fox, 
"wherein locals have persisted as a body in an attitude of 
open defiance of the National Union." Other local unions 
were encouraged to attempt the same policy. The matter 
was taken up at the convention of 1902, and the Chicago 
conference board was persuaded to declare the independent 
strike off in that city, and to secure sanction by making 
application in the usual way. 10 It was also made manda- 
tory upon the president and the executive board to suspend 
all members participating in unsanctioned strikes and to 
have their suspension recorded if such insubordination 
continued. 11 

A gradual development took place also in the Cigar 
Makers' Union. As early as 1873 the national union had 
inaugurated the policy of attempting to arbitrate griev- 
ances before calling a strike and of referring proposed 
strikes to the national organization. 12 In 1876 control of 
strikes was not very effective, and the official editor wrote: 
"The disposition to strike on almost every occasion has 
produced the greatest demoralization to our whole organiza- 

8 Proceedings, p. 76; Constitution, 1888, art. vii, sec. 2. 

9 Proceedings, 1886, pp. 9, 17. 

10 Proceedings, 1902, pp. 615, 729. 

11 Iron Molders' Journal, September, 1907, p. 652; Constitution, 
1907, art. vii, sec. 3. 

12 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, September, 1873, p. 6. 



54 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [392 

tion." 13 President Strasser declared in 1880 that "the 
safety and future of our union demands that all unauthor- 
ized strikes be stopped because in the long run they will 
surely be failures." In 1881 the official editor said the 
constitution provided that only those strikes officially 
sanctioned could be supported financially, and urged that 
the national officers be trusted by the local unions in 
authorizing strikes. 14 In 1884 the rule was strengthened 
by providing that "no member or union shall be considered 
on strike unless said strike shall have been approved by the 
proper authorities of the International Union." 15 The 
disastrous results of a strike in Cincinnati in 1884, entered 
into against the advice of the national officials, made clear 
the necessity of adopting some means to compel local unions 
to settle their grievances in accordance with the interests of 
the national organization. The result of this long and 
bitter contest, brought on by the refusal to arbitrate, was 
the passage of a rule at the convention of 1885 at Cincin- 
nati authorizing the executive board to appoint an arbi- 
tration board to act with the local committee. The arbi- 
tration board was given power to force a conference, and 
the results of such conference were to be binding, even if 
not agreeable to the local union involved, if approved by a 
general vote. 16 In the report of President Strasser at the 
convention of 1887 he said: "Our unions have gradually 
recognized the necessity of discipline and the enforcement 
of our laws governing the management of strikes. Inde- 
pendent strikes have become a matter of the past, not to 
be revived or tolerated again." 

The Carpenters and Joiners since their organization in 
1 88 1 have required that their local unions in order to 
receive assistance shall obtain the authority of the general 
executive board before striking. 17 In 1894 detailed move- 
ments were declared to be better than local ones, while 

13 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, March, 1876, p. 4. 

14 Ibid., April, 1881, p. 1. 

15 Constitution, 1884, p. 19. 

16 Proceedings, 1885, p. 6; Constitution, 1885, p. 15. 

17 Constitution, 1881, art. xx, sec. 8. 



393] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 55 

today a local union engaging in a general strike without 
sanction renders itself liable to expulsion. 18 

Among the unions which forbid independent strikes 
there are marked differences in the efficacy of such rules, 
and unauthorized strikes occur at times. The tendency, 
however, is toward a more rigid enforcement of discipline 
through the infliction of penalties. There are a number of 
unions in this class — the Boot and Shoe Workers, the 
Bookbinders, the Brewery Workmen, the Iron, Steel and 
Tin Workers, the Locomotive Engineers, the Locomotive 
Firemen, the Railroad Trainmen, the Switchmen, the Rail- 
road Telegraphers, the Railway Carmen, the Railway 
Clerks, the Street and Electric Railway Employees, the 
Printers, the Stereotypers, the Photo-Engravers, the 
Pressmen, the Railway Conductors, the Operative Potters, 
and the United Mine Workers — in which unauthorized 
strikes are effectually punished by filling the places of the 
strikers, by withdrawing the charter of the local union, or 
by expelling the strikers. The policies of the Printers and 
of the various railway brotherhoods illustrate this evolution. 

When the "defense fund" was established in the Typo- 
graphical Union, aid was given only in case the strike was 
sanctioned by the executive council. Many of the larger 
unions continued, however, to finance their own strikes and 
did not seek authorization. Professor Barnett has de- 
scribed this: "Although the 'general laws' of the Inter- 
national required that no strike or lockout should be 
'deemed legal' unless 'authorized or recognized by the 
executive council,' and, also that 'to affect union men 
prejudicially to their standing in the Union the strike must 
have been authorized in accordance with the International 
law,' local unions frequently disregarded these provisions 
and declared strikes without consulting the executive com- 
mittee. As the interests of the union became more fully 
nationalized and a national policy developed, the members 
came to realize that a striking union, even though it paid 
its own expenses, might seriously imperil the success of an 

18 Proceedings, 1894, p. 26; Constitution, 191 1, sec. 139. 



56 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [394 

International policy. The unhappy outcome of two un- 
sanctioned strikes in the fiscal year 1903-04 led to the 
enactment by the session of the International in 1904 of a 
rule which required the council to ' immediately disown ' all 
strikes occurring without its sanction, and 'to guarantee 
protection to all members who remain at. accept, or return 
to work in offices affected by an illegal strike.' " 19 In 1904 
President Lynch said : " If the law is not strong enough and 
explicit enough to prevent unauthorized strikes, then change 
should be made.'' 20 

The railroad brotherhoods allow no strikes except those 
authorized in accordance with the laws of the national 
union. Members inciting or taking part in an unauthorized 
strike are on conviction expelled; and if a lodge fails to ex- 
pel within ten days such striking members, its charter may 
be revoked by the head of the order, who is directed to 
transfer to other lodges or system divisions all members not 
participating in the refusal to expel. 

The railway brotherhoods have practically identical 
methods as to the control of strikes, for the reason that 
they are employed by the same corporations, have worked 
together many times in the settling of grievances, have had 
to a large extent a similar history, and are today bound by 
common agreements with the railroads which must be en- 
forced by their onicers. The strike rules of one order have 
been taken also as a model by another, as in the case of the 
Conductors in 1891, who made free use of the rules of the 
Locomotive Firemen.- 1 

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the oldest 
and perhaps the strongest of the railroad brotherhoods, has 
always opposed unauthorized strikes. A proposed act of 
federal incorporation brought up at the convention of 1871 
provided that any subdivisions organized under the act 
which "shall by their advice and counsel induce any en- 
gineer or engineers, to interfere by a strike with the trans- 

u Bamett, The Printers, p. 323. 

:: Proceedings. 1901. p. 5. 

■ Proceedings of the Order of Railroad Conductors, 1S91. pp. 341, 

347- 



395] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 57 

portation of the mails or other Government property, or 
who shall refuse to expel any of their members who shall 
so interfere, shall forfeit their Charter and all the right and 
interests they may have in any common fund of the Brother- 
hood that may be accumulated at that time." 22 Through 
the efforts of Grand Chief Engineer Arthur thirteen agree- 
ments were made from 1874 to 1877 with various railroads 
providing for wages, promotion, and arbitration of difficul- 
ties. This policy has been continued until the present day. 
The Order of Railway Conductors during its early history 
was a non-striking organization. The necessity of definite 
laws distinguishing legal from illegal strikes was brought 
out clearly by a strike in April, 1891, on the Union Pacific 
Railroad when some of its members went on strike without 
consulting the grand chief conductor or any head officer of 
the order and without any meeting or consultation con- 
cerning grievances with the railroad officials. In settling 
the strike Grand Chief Conductor Clark called in to assist 
him Grand Master F. P. Sargent, of the Brotherhood of 
Locomotive Firemen, and Grand Master S. E. Wilkinson, 
of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, and the three 
agreed that the action of the men was radical, ill-advised, 
and unreasonable. This strike led Grand Chief Conductor 
Clark to say: "The time has come when it is absolutely 
necessary for all organizations in Railroad service to lay 
down a definite line between a strike legally authorized by 
an organization, and a wild-cat strike which is inaugurated 
by irresponsible individuals. Certainly, if the members of 
these organizations are going to follow the lead of every 
irresponsible individual who declares himself on a strike, 
there is no further use for organization." 23 The conven- 
tion of 1 891, to which these words were addressed, enacted 
strike laws which remain substantially unchanged today. 
The rule was then adopted that any member engaging in a 
strike not legally authorized should be expelled on con- 
viction. 24 

22 Proceedings, 1871, p. 40. 

23 Proceedings, 189 1, p. 21. 

24 Ibid., p. 347. 



58 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [396 

In 1888 the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen, whose 
title was changed in 1889 to the Brotherhood of Railroad 
Trainmen, adopted a rule in convention to the effect that 
all members should hold themselves in duty bound to keep 
in good faith any agreement entered into by any railroad 
and the representatives of the brotherhood. Any violation 
of such agreements by any member was to be punished by 
expulsion. 25 In 1889 it was made the duty of the grand 
master to suspend at once the charter of any lodge refusing 
to carry out the instructions of the general grievance com- 
mittee, and in 1891 it was provided that any member or 
members inciting a strike or participating in one, except as 
provided by the rules of the order, should upon conviction 
be expelled. 26 The convention of 1893 strengthened the 
rules against strikes as follows: (1) members inciting or 
participating in an unauthorized strike to be expelled; 
(2) the lodge in whose jurisdiction an unauthorized strike 
occurs to expel within ten days all members engaged in 
such strike; (3) the charter of the lodge failing to expel 
within ten days members so engaged to be revoked by the 
grand master, who is then obliged to transfer the noil- 
striking members to other lodges ; and (4) no member under 
charges of taking part in an unauthorized strike to be 
granted a travelling, transfer, or withdrawal card. 27 These 
rules, phrased in identical language, govern the Locomotive 
Firemen, 28 the Railway Clerks, 29 the Maintenance-of-Way 
Employes, 30 and the Railway Carmen. 

A determining experience against illegal strikes, as far 
as the railroad brotherhoods are concerned, was the Pull- 
man strike of 1894 and the calling out of railway employees 
in a sympathetic strike by the American Railway Union. 
This latter organization was formed in 1893, and, unlike 
the older brotherhoods, embraced in its membership men 
from all branches of the railroad service. Its officers were 

25 Constitution, 1888, General Rules, sec. 13, p. 27. 

26 Constitution, 1889, sec. 26, p. 26; 1891, General Rules, 10, p. 30. 

27 Constitution, 1893, p. 30. 

28 Constitution, 1894, p. 68. 

29 Protective Laws [n. d.], art. vi, sec. I. 
10 Constitution, 1907, p. 31. 



397] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 59 

for the most part former brotherhood officials, its president, 
Eugene V. Debs, having been connected in an official 
capacity with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen for 
some sixteen years, and its vice-president, George W. 
Howard, having been grand chief conductor of the Order 
of Railway Conductors. 

The position taken by the brotherhoods during the 
strike was that they would expect their members to per- 
form their proper, regular, and customary duties, but that 
their members must not be forced to perform duties not 
properly their own. Members were warned that if they left 
off work voluntarily or were dismissed for refusing to per- 
form their proper and customary duties they could not 
expect any support from the brotherhoods. A number of 
members, including some leading officers, were expelled 
later for violations of their obligations. 31 Two years later 
Grand Chief Arthur of the Locomotive Engineers, in com- 
menting on this strike, which caused President Cleveland 
to send troops to Chicago, said: "Experience has proved 
that strikes and lockouts which lead to violence and de- 
struction of property afford no satisfactory relief. Workers 
can not afford to resist the law." 32 

Many of the members of the Switchmen's Mutual Aid 
Association took part in the strike without the sanction of 
their officials. The officers of the association stood by the 
rules and the validity of existing agreements. Grand 
Master Barrett declared that there would be no order issued 
to participate in the strike while he was grand master. 33 
By the members striking "at the drop of the hat" some 
2800 men lost their positions, and the result was the dis- 
ruption of the association. The switchmen reorganized as 
the Switchmen's Union of North America in October of the 
same year, 1894, an d have since laid much emphasis on 
rules providing for the expulsion of any member engaging 
in a sympathetic, illegal strike. 34 

31 Proceedings of the Order of Railway Conductors, 1895, pp. 19-21. 

32 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, June, 1896, p. 511. 

33 Railroad Trainmen's Journal, August, 1894, p. 692. 

34 Switchmen's Journal, August, 1902, p. 1199; Proceedings, 1909, 
p. 38; Constitution, 1909, sec. 264. 



60 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [398 

The Locomotive Firemen did not join in the strike. As 
President Debs of the American Railway Union had been 
the secretary and treasurer of the Firemen, it was expected 
that his influence would be large. A statement which he 
had made during the Switchmen's strike at Buffalo in 1892, 
while secretary and treasurer of the Firemen, was quoted 
effectively against his later position. In 1892 he had said: 
"The grand master, nor any other grand officer, nor all of 
them combined cannot order a strike under any conceivable 
circumstances, and this is practically true of grand officers 
of all other organizations of railway employes. In just 
one way a strike can be legally authorized, and that is by 
a two-thirds vote of the members on the whole system. 
The grand master has no more authority to order a strike 
than you have to declare war against Canada. A sympathy 
strike is simply out of the question under our present laws, 
and I think I should know what the laws are, for, with the 
exception of a paragraph or two of minor importance, I 
drafted them all. Our laws provide explicitly that only 
the grievance of a member of our own order can be con- 
sidered and that, if a strike is inaugurated or participated 
in under any other circumstances, the members so offending 
shall be expelled." 35 The Firemen met in convention in 
October, 1894, and besides receiving the resignation of 
Mr. Debs from the editorship of the Locomotive Firemen's 
Magazine, the official journal with which he had been con- 
nected for some sixteen years, strengthened materially the 
rules against unauthorized strikes, and defined more clearly 
the penalties for participation in an unauthorized strike. 36 
The convention was not satisfied, however, with thus 
amending the constitution, but it also condemned viola- 
tions of agreements and unauthorized strikes as "irrational, 
fanatical and illogical, and injurious to both employer and 
employe." The brotherhood's position was further de- 
fined in two strong resolutions. 37 

S5 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, August, 1894, p. 740. 
86 Constitution, 1894, sec. 221. 

37 The text of these resolutions was as follows: "Resolved, That it 
is the sense of this, the fourth biennial convention in Harrisburg as- 



399] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 6 1 

Sympathetic strikes constitute a peculiarly insidious 
form of the independent strike. The idea back of the 
sympathetic strike is that "an injury to one is an injury 
to all." The downfall of the Knights of St. Crispin, the 
Knights of Labor, and the American Railway Union — all 
of which were wrecked by sympathetic strikes — points to 
this conclusion. Moreover, the interests of the various 
classes of laborers are by no means identical. The railroad 
engineers and the railroad telegraphers, for example, have 
little in common; the first are highly trained and receive 
high wages, and the others have comparatively little training 
and receive low wages. Machinists and hod carriers pre- 
sent a still stronger contrast. It is not uncommon for the 
union going out on a sympathetic strike to have had no 
opportunity to prevent the strike. 

Not only the railroad brotherhoods but many of the other 
national unions have passed rules to guard against local 
unions being swept off their feet by emotional appeals. 
The Granite Cutters, for instance, in 1880 provided that 
no local branch should enter into any arrangements with 
any other trade which might lead to any expense to the 
national union without a general vote of the members in 
good standing. 38 The Painters allow no local union ex- 
pecting help to enter into a sympathetic strike in aid of 
other than building-trade unions without the consent of 
the general executive board. 39 The prohibition of dual 

sembled, to denounce such action on the pare of our members, and 
that in the future we shall insist that they live strictly up to the laws 
of the order and the contracts under which they are working at all 
times and in all places, and we emphatically declare that when we enter 
into an agreement with any railroad company to follow such agree- 
ment to the letter in accordance with the laws of the order. And 
further be it 

" Resolved, That we demand on the part of the other labor organiza- 
tions not to interfere with the members of the Brotherhood of Loco- 
motive Firemen while working under such contracts, and it is the sense 
of this body that so long as we are not asked to perform work outside 
of our particular line of duty we will comply with any agreement 
entered into with any railroad company" (Constitution, 1896, p. 84; 
Proceedings, 1894, P- 582). 

38 Constitution, 1880, art. xxii. 

39 Constitution, 191 1, sec. 79. 



62 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [4OO 

membership and obligation, as by the Locomotive Engineers 
in 1884, is designed to prevent the members of the brother- 
hood being involved with other organizations. 40 The Book- 
binders were asked in 1894 to call out the bookbinders of 
Chicago and to levy an assessment for their support in 
sympathy with the American Railroad Union. The 
matter being brought up in the executive council of the 
Bookbinders, the conclusion was reached that the consti- 
tution prevented the council from even considering the 
proposition. 41 

The desirability of a general rule in regard to sympathetic 
strikes led the Iron Molders at the convention of 1899 to 
adopt a standing resolution to the effect that the Molders 
could cooperate with other unions only when the grievance 
was submitted and the request made before the struggle 
was begun and after it had been endorsed by the Molders' 
president and executive board in the usual way. 42 The 
Stove Mounters and the Metal Polishers have similar laws. 
The Amalgamated Woodworkers declare that in all sympa- 
thetic strikes local unions must act entirely upon their own 
responsibility, and their action does not in any way com- 
promise the general council until the strike has been 
approved. 43 The Carriage and Wagon Workers likewise 
insist on a thorough investigation by the national union, 
and then allow such strikes only with the consent of that 
body. 44 The executive board of the Stone Cutters refused 
in 1901 to support the Peoria, 111., branch in a strike in 
sympathy with the building- trades council, and in explana- 
tion the general secretary-treasurer wrote that "the execu- 
tive board does not recognize any organization but a stone 
cutter's." 45 The president of the Boiler Makers in his 
report to the convention of 1906 cautioned his organiza- 
tion against entering into strikes with other organizations, 

40 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, November, 1905, p. 997. 

41 Proceedings, 1895, p. II. 

42 Proceedings, 1899, p. 191. 

43 Constitution, 1905, sec. 133. 

44 Proceedings, 1906, p. 13; Constitution, 191 1, art. x, sec. 6. 
46 Stone Cutters' Journal, February, 1901, p. 7. 



40 1 ] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 63 

especially when not consulted or considered before the 
original strike took place. 46 

The Stove Mounters in St. Louis, Mo., went out in 
sympathy with the Metal Polishers ; in view of the fact that 
the national union was not notified until after the men 
struck, the strike was not sanctioned. Delegate Davis in 
discussing the case at the 1901 convention said: "While 
no doubt No. 34 made a serious mistake in doing what they 
did, our constitution at that time was not specific enough 
to cover the case in hand." 47 At this convention a rule 
was passed to the effect that "no local can strike without 
the consent of the executive board." This rule is still in 
force. 48 

The Blacksmiths have discussed at three of their con- 
ventions the various aspects of the sympathetic strike. 
The committee on relations with other organizations recom- 
mended in 1903 that the organization should not enter into 
sympathetic strikes conflicting with agreements "unless 
such conditions exist as will be a detriment to the advance- 
ment of all workingmen." 49 In 1905 one sympathetic 
strike was reported as sanctioned and another as taking 
place without sanction. President Slocum in his report in 
1905 said: "Sympathetic strikes, however, are to be avoided 
and shunned as calculated to bring disaster to the organiza- 
tion entering upon one, because it usually proves to be a 
two-edged sword." President Kline complained in 1907 
that every craft with a grievance tried to get the black- 
smith shop closed, with the idea that it would have a better 
chance of winning. Then he added: "True, but if we fol- 
lowed every craft, we would be on strike half the time. 
Our laws should be well defined relative to strikes." 

The usual penalty for entering on an illegal strike is the 
withholding of strike benefits. An exception to this rule 
is made by some unions whenever it can be clearly shown 
that no opportunity was afforded to carry out the consti- 



45 Proceedings, 1906, p. 204. 

47 Proceedings, 1901, pp. 4, 21. 

48 Constitution, 1910, art. ix, sec. 10. 

49 Proceedings, 1903, p. 58. 



64 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [402 

tutional provisions and the provocation was so great that 
immediate action was necessary. In such cases benefits 
are paid by the Bookbinders, the Plate Printers, the Opera- 
tive Potters, and the Photo-Engravers, while some unions 
give no financial aid but lend only their moral support, as 
in the case of the Metal Polishers. The denial of strike 
benefits is, however, accompanied at times by permission 
to appeal directly to other local unions for financial help. 
The executive board of the Metal Polishers refused bene- 
fits in the case of an illegal strike in New Jersey in 191 1, but 
asked all local unions to contribute voluntarily. 50 But in 
nearly all unions no such appeal is allowed unless the 
general officers sanction its issue. The Sheet Metal 
Workers do not allow any direct appeal. 51 The Tobacco 
Workers go farther, and do not allow local unions to levy 
assessments or suspend members not paying the same if 
the assessments are in aid of an unauthorized strike. 52 

Some unions provide that members striking illegally shall 
be fined. The Box Makers, for instance, in 1911, after 
examining forty-five men fined three of them five dollars 
apiece for promoting an illegal strike. Other unions, such 
as the Operative Potters, 53 the Railway Carmen, 54 and 
other railroad brotherhoods, expel or suspend members so 
acting. The Boot and Shoe Workers automatically suspend 
and impose a fine of ten dollars on each person going out on 
strike in violation of arbitration agreements. 55 

The strongest means for the enforcement of the rules 
against independent strikes is the revocation or suspension 
of the charters of the striking local unions and the putting 
of men to work in place of those on strike. In 1873, for 
instance, division 115 of the Locomotive Engineers, on 
account of a violation of the rules of the brotherhood, 

50 Our Journal [Metal Polishers], February, 1912, p. 7. 
"Sheet Metal Workers' Journal, May, 1912, p. 162; Constitution, 
1909, art. xiii, sec. 6. 

52 Constitution, 1905, sec. 88. 
63 Constitution, 19 10, sec. 69. 

54 Constitution, 1909, sec. 105. 

55 Proceedings, 1906, p. 95; Shoe Workers' Journal, January, 1911, 
p. 26. 



403] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 65 

had its charter suspended for one year, and its members 
deprived of all benefits and privileges for that time. 56 The 
unauthorized strike has rarely appeared in this organiza- 
tion, and it was not until 1905 that discipline for such 
action became necessary. A strike on the New York 
Interurban Railroad was participated in by division 105 
of the Locomotive Engineers on March 9, 1905, in viola- 
tion of the contract with the railroad. The strike was 
entered into without first calling in the grand chief engineer 
for assistance in adjusting the grievance. Moreover, posi- 
tive instructions from the officials of the national union 
were kept from the men. The strike was described as a 
"hasty, ill-advised action, without either the knowledge 
or consent of the Grand Chief, illegal in every phase and 
in which there is a most regrettable evidence of indifference 
to o^Hgated duty, as well as indifference to the welfare of 
our organization as a whole by breaking faith with a con- 
tract made in conjunction with the Grand Chief Engineer, 
aided by the influence and good name of the whole order, 
making a grievous break in our work of honor, upon which 
rests our contracts with nearly all the railroads of America, 
Canada, and Mexico. '^The charter of this division was 
revoked. 57 

That the rules of the Trainmen are not mere paper ones 
is proved by the enforcement of discipline against un- 
authorized strikes in that organization. The Switchmen, 
members of the Brotherhood of Trainmen, employed at 
New Haven, Conn., on the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford Railroad, went on strike in 1906 in violation of 
their contract with the railroad. After a thorough investi- 
gation of the affair Vice-Grand Master Val Smith, repre- 
senting the brotherhood, pronounced the strike illegal, 
ordered the men back to work provided the company would 
reemploy them, and assured the company that the contract 
between it and the brotherhood would be maintained and 

56 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, January, 1875, PP- 33> 
35. One member's family lost $3000 life insurance. 

57 Ibid., April, 1905, p. 343. 

5 



66 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [404 

that the brotherhood would furnish capable men to fill all 
vacancies. 58 A vigorous editorial in the official organ 
scored the action of the men in violating their contract 
and declared that the rule would be enforced. ' 

The general officers of the Amalgamated Association of 
Street and Electric Railway Employees admonished a local 
union in 1901 "to confine itself strictly to the laws of our 
Association and the stipulations set forth in their contract 
with the company." 59 A strike on the New York subway 
in 1905 was declared illegal and "to be neither authorized 
or approved by the Association," and all loyal members 
were instructed to report for duty. The convention of the 
same year concurred in this action, and recommended that 
in such cases charters should be revoked. 60 

An unauthorized strike over the measurement of type 
set on the machines of the Chicago Examiner and the Chi- 
cago American took place on March 28, 191 1. On the 
previous day Commissioner H. N. Kellogg, of the American 
Newspaper Publishers' Association, had telegraphed Presi- 
dent Lynch of the national union that trouble was liable to 
occur. Immediately following the receipt of this telegram 
President Lynch wired President O'Brien of Chicago Local 
No. 16 as follows: "Kellogg wires me dispute with Hearst 
papers serious and trouble liable. Of course, under arbi- 
tration agreement, disputes must be peaceably adjusted, 
work continuing in the interim between raising of question 
and its settlement. Know that you will see agreement is 
observed." The first knowledge that any official of the 
International Typographical Union received that a strike 
had occurred was gained by President Lynch through a 
bulletin posted on a bulletin board in Washington. Presi- 
dent Lynch telegraphed at once to President O'Brien of the 
Chicago local union: "Just learned of strike on Hearst 
papers, in violation of arbitration agreement and contract 
obligations. Men must return to work at once and pro- 

58 Railroad Trainmen's Journal, September-October, 1906, pp. 835- 
901. 

59 Proceedings, 1901, p. 9. 

60 Proceedings, 1905, pp. 18, 44. 



405] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 67 

tection guaranteed to those who obey this order." Presi- 
dent Lynch also communicated at once with Secretary- 
Treasurer Hays and the executive council, and the strike, 
in accordance with the rules of the national union, was 
disavowed as illegal, and the men were ordered to report 
for work. The publishers of the Examiner and the Ameri- 
can were also informed of this decision. The Chicago local 
union refused to carry out this order. The national 
officers then declared that if the men did not return to 
work the "executive council would order that type for the 
American and Examiner be set by members in other 
chapels, and that it would use every effort to see that the 
papers on which the strike occurred were issued with the 
least possible delay." The local union proving stubborn, 
telegrams were sent to the chairmen of the other Chicago 
papers instructing them to have set up any copy presented 
for the American and the Examiner unless the strikers 
returned to work at once. 61 The executive committee of 
the local union then ordered the men to return to work on 
the American and the Examiner. 

The members of the Photo-Engravers' Union on the Pitts- 
burg Dispatch went out on an illegal strike in 1905, but 
were ordered to return to work by the national officers, and 
a deputy was sent who adjusted the dispute. 62 The Inter- 
national Stereotypers and Electro typers' Union, likewise, 
opposes any illegal strike. Stereotypers' Union No. 4 of 
Chicago instituted a strike on the principal Chicago papers 
on May 3, 1 91 2, in direct violation of the terms of an agree- 
ment entered into with the daily newspapers of Chicago, 
and underwritten and guaranteed by the national union. 
The executive officers of the national union as soon as notice 
had been received of the strike denounced it as illegal, and 
ordered the men who had struck immediately to return to 
work. The executive officers went to Chicago and en- 
deavored to have the striking members return to work but 
without success. On May 9, 191 2, the charter of Stere- 

61 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 95. 

62 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 352. 



68 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [406 

otypers' Union No. 4 was suspended. The matter was 
brought up at the annual convention, and after long debate 
was referred to the executive board with power to act. 
The executive board then by unanimous vote chartered a 
new union to be known as Stereotypers' Union No. 114 of 
Chicago, Illinois, to take the place of the one suspended. 63 

The Boot and Shoe Workers in 1907 revoked the charter 
of their local union in South Framingham, Mass., and 
entered suit for the funds in the local treasury. The local 
union had entered upon a strike without holding a meeting 
or notifying any of the national officers. 64 Likewise some 
"treers" in a Brockton factory where the "union stamp 
agreement" was in force went out on the plea of a right to 
quit as individuals. The firm notified the officers of the 
national union, and the latter advertised for men to take 
the places of the strikers and thus protect the agreement. 
The strikers appealed to the 1907 convention, but their 
appeal was not allowed because they had not paid their 
fines. 65 Again in 1909 the places of illegal strikers were 
filled, although with difficulty, and the strikers were termed 
traitors and repudiators. 66 

The United Mine Workers do not consider any strike 
legal or entitled to support unless the rules governing 
strikes have been complied with. 67 In 1896 the McDonald 
machine men had a grievance, but instead of observing 
the strike law they quit work, and then sought an adjust- 
ment of the trouble. The Pittsburg convention ordered 
them back to work, and asked them to present their 
grievances to the joint committee of ten appointed for the 
purpose of settling such disputes. The editor of the 
Journal said: "This is discipline, no doubt, but it is of the 
right kind. It is the discipline that will eventual^ redound 

63 The Journal [Stereotypers and Electrotypers], June, pp. I, 2, 
September, p. 1, 1912; Proceedings, 1912, p. 36. 

64 Proceedings, 1907, p. 22. 
66 Ibid., pp. 21, 319. 

66 Shoe Workers' Journal, January, 191 1, p. 26. 

67 Constitution, 1890, art. v; 1908, art. x. 



407] THE INDEPENDENT STRIKE 69 

to the benefit of all of us, if rightly and consistently exer- 
cised." 68 

The rare case of a local union going farther in disciplining 
members than the national organization is willing to go is 
illustrated in a decision of the general executive board of 
the Pattern Makers' League. A branch of the league 
expelled two members on account of their action during 
an unsanctioned strike. The executive board did not 
approve the action of the association in expelling these 
two members, and ruled that they would not approve the 
action of any branch in expelling members on account of 
unsanctioned strikes. 69 This union, however, is highly 
organized and as a body is opposed to strikes, holding that 
under their system strikes are unnecessary. 70 

It thus appears that the main forces making for the 
abolition of the independent or illegal strike have been (1) 
the growth of a national policy in regard to organization 
and beneficiary features, (2) the necessity of the enforce- 
ment of agreements with employers, and (3) the necessity 
of discipline to keep the local unions from disruption and 
destruction through unwise and hasty strikes. The older 
national unions, such as the Iron Molders, the Bricklayers 
and Masons, the Cigar Makers, the Typographical Union, 
and the Locomotive Engineers, have attained a more 
complete control than the more recently organized unions. 
Complete control is found in all the railroad brotherhoods. 

The grant of strike benefits only in the case of a duly 
authorized strike acts as a sharp deterrent on local unions 
contemplating an illegal strike. The suspension or revo- 
cation of the charter of a local union means that its members 
will suffer the loss of death, sickness, and out-of-work 
benefits offered by the national organization. The expul- 
sion or suspension of the individual members acts also, of 
course, in the same way, while a fine and the loss of work 
through the illegal strike may make the financial burden 
an onerous one. 

68 United Mine Workers' Journal, January 23, 1896, p. 4. 

69 Pattern Makers' Journal, April, 1890, p. 16. 

70 Proceedings, 1906, p. 8. 



70 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [408 

No uniform date can be assigned to the beginning of the 
elimination of independent strikes since the date varies 
with different unions. The Locomotive Engineers, for 
instance, centralized strike control by agreements through 
the national executive with the railroads during the years 
1 874-1 879. The Cigar Makers did not gain full control 
until after 1885, while the Molders, although passing an 
expulsion rule in 1882, had independent strikes as late as 
1 901. The Printers did not provide against the illegal or 
unauthorized strike until 1904. It may be stated gener- 
ally, however, that fairly effective control of the un- 
authorized strike began to develop the early eighties. 

The lack of control still found in many unions is to be 
explained by their system of local autonomy and low dues. 
The national office without money cannot dictate to the 
local unions when and where not to strike. The influence 
of increased dues and centralization is shown by the history 
of the Boot and Shoe Workers since 1899. This organiza- 
tion, by means of increased dues (the bulk of which go to 
the national union), the raising of a defense fund, the use 
of agreements, and the giving of sick benefits, has made the 
national union paramount. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Management of Strikes 

The successful issue of a strike, like the winning of a 
battle, depends to a large extent on the methods used and 
the leadership evoked. The evolution of strike manage- 
ment, like that of strike initiation, has proceeded from 
almost complete autonomy on the part of the local unions 
to the present large measure of control by the national 
unions. 1 The usual strike machinery is as follows: (i) the 
local strike committee, (2) the district committee, and 
(3) the agent or representative of the national union who 
conducts the strike and represents the interests of the 
general union. 

(1) The local strike committee chosen by the local union 
conducts the strike and has full charge of affairs where 
there is complete local autonomy, as in such unions as the 
Blast Furnace Workers and Smelters, the Composition 
Roofers, the Damp and Waterproof Workers, the Print 
Cutters, the Hod Carriers, the Slate and Tile Roofers, and 
the Wall Paper Machine Printers and Color Mixers. On 
the other hand, where control by the national union exists 
the local committee is chosen under rules laid down by the 
national union. The Granite Cutters, for instance, in 
1880 provided that the local union should elect a strike 
committee of five members to conduct the strike, report to 
the national union as to the standing of the dispute, and 
give an account of receipts and expenditures. 2 Such an 
election is a common procedure in several unions, but in 

1 Especially significant, however, as showing the trend of develop- 
ment is the fact that in the Hod Carriers and Building Laborers' Union, 
which pays no strike benefits, the national president or a special 
organizer sent by him goes to stay with the local union until the strike 
ends. 

s Constitution, 1880, art. xiii. 

71 






72 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [4IO 

others the local executive board, made up of the officers 
of the local union, acts as a strike committee. 3 

(2) In places where there is more than one local union 
of any national union, a district council or joint local 
executive board usually exists and takes an active part in 
the management of strikes. The general rule is that a 
district committee appointed to consider the initiation of a 
strike continues as a strike committee if, in spite of their 
efforts at adjustment, a strike ensues. Occasionally a 
new committee is elected. The Brotherhood of Carpenters 
and Joiners, for instance, in 1888 provided that when a 
district council exists it must adopt rules for the govern- 
ment of strikes and lockouts subject to the approval of 
the general executive board. 4 Likewise the Cigar Makers' 
International Union in 1890 voted that in places where 
more than one local union exists such local unions shall 
form a ''Joint Strike Committee" for the management of 
all strikes or lockouts, and that in the month of January of 
each year they must adopt local rules for the management 
of strikes, these rules to be published in the Cigar Makers' 
Official Journal. 5 A concrete illustration of the working 
of a district council is afforded by a strike in 191 1 of thir- 
teen local unions of the Brick. Tile, and Terra Cotta 
Workers' Alliance under the jurisdiction of District Council 
No. 1, known as the Chicago district. At the conferences 
preceding the strike each local union was represented by 
one delegate and negotiations were carried on by this 
committee and by the district and general officers. When 
a strike ensued, however, a general meeting of all the local 
unions was held, and the management of the strike was 
turned over to the executive board of the council and the 
national officers. 6 

It is usual in the case of a general strike for the national 
president to call upon each local union involved to select a 
representative to meet with the members of the general 

* Tobacco Workers, Constitution, 1905, sec. 77. 

4 Constitution, 1888, art. xx, sec. 12. 

5 Constitution, 1890, art. xxv, sees. 1, 4. 

6 Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta Workers' Journal, June, 191 1, p. 4. 



41 1] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 73 

executive board to form a general arbitration committee, 
with power delegated by the executive board to take full 
charge of the strike. 

(3) An increasing number of unions have adopted in 
recent years the policy of sending a representative or 
deputy to the place where any dispute or difficulty arises. 
The evolution of this practice has been outlined in a 
previous chapter and need not detain us here. The agent 
sent in the first place usually remains to manage the 
strike if all efforts for adjustment fail; or if there has been 
no opportunity to send a representative before the strike 
takes place, one is sent as soon as possible thereafter. 
Some sixty unions pursue this policy, which reflects the 
general feeling among trade unionists that a local union 
on strike is not capable of managing its own affairs. The 
members of the national union outside of the local union 
on strike are not satisfied unless there is a general officer or 
agent on the field of conflict to conduct the strike and to 
give an itemized report of expenditures and full details as 
to progress. 

The recognized strike leader in many unions is the 
national president, who has authority to command the 
entire resources of the national union. This is especially 
true of the railroad brotherhoods such as the Locomotive 
Engineers, the Locomotive Firemen, the Railway Con- 
ductors, the Railroad Trainmen, the Car Workers, the 
Railway Clerks, and the Railroad Telegraphers. Where 
more than one strike at a time is being waged the vice- 
presidents are called upon to take the place of the presi- 
dent. The representative may be, however, any of the 
officers or members of the national union. In 1904 the 
Amalgamated Woodworkers' Union had two salaried men 
who were directing strikes, but whose expenses were 
charged to "organization and travel." 7 

The duties of the agent or representative in the manage- 
ment of strikes were succinctly stated by the Cigar Makers 
in the constitution of 1886: "To attend all meetings of 

7 Proceedings, 1904, p. 22. 



74 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [412 

the committee having the conducting of the strike or the 
lock-out in charge, and to report weekly or oftener as 
circumstances warrant, or if required to do so by the 
International President, upon all questions in reference to 
the difficulty, and at the same time forward a copy thereof 
to each member of the Executive Board. He shall have 
free access to all meetings of the committee above speci- 
fied, and have power when directed to examine the books 
and papers of the local unions." 8 This phrasing has been 
adopted by several other unions. The general agent is 
liable to discipline for neglect of duty. The general 
executive board of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers 
in 191 1 suspended an agent on account of flagrant neglect 
of duty in handling a strike. 9 

The tendency is toward an increased use of the general 
representative, even where a large degree of local autonomy 
prevails. The Painters plan to send a general officer to 
the scene of a strike, although their local unions generally 
finance their own strikes. 10 The Barbers have always 
allowed their local unions autonomy in the matter of 
strikes, but in a strike at Louisville, Ky., in 191 1, an inter- 
national representative was sent to the scene of conflict to 
safeguard the interests of the national union. Even where 
no representative is sent from outside, the national union 
in some cases has its officers appoint two or more members 
of the local strike committee from among the members of 
the local unions on strike, to act on behalf of the national 
union. 

Headquarters are usually established, where the officers 
in charge of the strike may be found and where the strikers 
can gather, and in some cases they are kept open day and 
night. 11 Meetings are held daily in most cases and speakers 
address these meetings to encourage the men. Members 

8 Constitution, 1886, art. vi, sec. 21. 

9 Bakers' Journal, April 29, 1911, p. 1; May 6, 1911, p. 1. 

10 A general officer of this union attended a meeting of a strike com- 
mittee in Pittsburgh in 191 1 and advised how best to conduct the 
strike (Painter and Decorator, May, 1911, p. 295). 

11 The Burlington Strike, p. 205. Compiled by C. H. Salmons, an 
official account, Aurora, 111. 1889. 



413] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 75 

on strike are required to report daily at roll call in some 
unions, while in others attendance is required twice a day. 
Failure to report ordinarily entails a forfeiture of strike 
pay, although some unions excuse non-attendance provided 
a good reason is given. 12 In some unions members on 
strike are not allowed to leave the locality without noti- 
fying the local union, or without the consent of two thirds 
of the members involved. Violations are punished or 
penalized in the International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths 
by a fine of ten dollars. 13 Members are also required to do 
whatever work may be assigned them in connection with 
the strike, and in case of refusal without a reasonable 
excuse they forfeit their strike pay or are expelled. 

The officers of the local union or the strike committee 
must report the progress of the strike to the national 
officers. To begin with, as soon as the strike takes place 
notice must be sent to general headquarters giving the 
number of men involved, describing the condition of affairs, 
and in some cases transmitting a list of the strikers. 14 
A blank form is usually sent from headquarters for the 
local officials to fill out. 15 The Stone Cutters require that 

12 Boiler Makers' Journal, August, 1902, p. 321; Journeyman Barber, 
August, 191 1, p. 225; Constitution, Granite Cutters' Association, 1880, 
art. xiii. 

13 Local Constitution, 1909, art. xii, sec. 7. 

14 Bakers' Journal, May 13, 191 1, p. 3. 

15 The following is a typical form: 

Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor 

International Association of Machinists 
Office of Grand Lodge — 400-407 McGill Building 
Report of Strikes and Lockouts 
Secretaries will please fill out this blank form and send to Interna- 
tional President when a strike or lockout occurs. 

190 

City Date 

Lodge No. . , 

Date of strike 190 . Time of day 

Name of firm 

Cause of strike 

Total number of machinists on strike 

Number of union machinists Number of apprentices 



76 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [414 

a strike report shall be made to the general office daily, 16 
but only a weekly report is required by the greater number 
of national unions. Failure to report involves the for- 
feiture of strike pay in most unions. Strike aid was dis- 
continued by the Cigar Makers 17 in 1873 and by the Stone 
Cutters 18 in 1903 to local unions on strike which had not 
sent in their strike reports. 

One of the first steps taken after the inauguration of a 
strike is to send out a notice of the strike to the various 
local unions. Such a notice is a warning to all to keep 
away from the seat of trouble so that the employers will 
not be able to get workmen. The Philadelphia Typo- 
graphical Society in 1803 published an advertisement and 
sent out notices of such a nature to different societies in the 
United States, as did the Franklin Typographical Society 
of New York in 1809. The latter in 18 10 urged its members 
to make every effort to prevent the defeat of their striking 
brethren in Philadelphia by the importation of printers 
from New York. After the establishment of the National 
Typographical Union in 1850 its main purpose for thirty 

Number of machinists who have been members for three months 

Number of non-union machinists on strike Number 

of machinists remaining at work Are any of the other 

metal trades involved? 

Has a strike ever taken place before; if so, with what result? 

What class of work is firm engaged in? 

What has been done to avoid the strike? 



Remarks 
Give full particulars not mentioned above, wages paid, hours worked, 
etc 

(seal) President. 

Approved: Int'l Pres. 

Rec. Secretary. 

Pay rolls sent: 

Date. 
No Benefits Paid for the First Week of Strike. 

16 Constitution, 1892, art. xi, sec. 7; By-Laws, 1909. 

17 Proceedings, 1873, p. 16. 

18 Stone Cutters' Journal, January, 1903, p. 7. 



415] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 77 

years was "to build up among the local unions such a 
community of feeling as to make it as difficult as possible 
for employers to secure workmen in time of strike." 19 
In 1864 the national secretary of the Cigar Makers was 
instructed to notify all local unions of any difficulty. 20 
The officers of the Bricklayers and Masons in 1869 issued 
warnings to members to keep away from the scene of 
trouble. 21 The Flint Glass Workers in 1881 instructed 
their secretary in case of sanctioned strikes to send out a 
statement of the facts to all local unions, "warning all 
true men not to accept employment in such factory or 
factories." 22 The same language is used by the Operative 
Potters 23 and the Tin Plate Workers. 24 The Iron Molders 
directed their president in 1882, and later their secretary, 
to keep the organization informed as to strikes or lock- 
outs either by circular or through the Journal. 25 

Most unions now issue notices of strikes through their 
secretaries or through their journals. A typical notice is 
the following by the Machinists, printed in large-face type 
in their official organ: "Keep away from all points on the 
Pacific Coast. This means every city, there are no excep- 
tions, and it means you, so don't go out there and pretend 
that you did not know they were on strike for an eight- 
hour day." 26 That such a notice is not entirely uncalled 
for is seen by the experience of the Boiler Workers in two 
strikes in 1892, one in Chicago and the other in Boston. 
Both local unions had to pay out of their strike benefits 
the return fare of those members, denounced as "pirates" 
and "land cormorants," who came on free tickets furnished 
by the employers and then claimed that they would not 
have come if they had known a strike was in progress. 27 

19 Barnett, pp. 16, 18, 29. 

20 Constitution, 1864, art. vii, sec. 2. 

21 Proceedings, 1869, p. 34. 

22 Constitution, 1881, art. ix, sec. 2. 

23 Constitution, 1910, sec. 66. 

24 Constitution, 1908, art. vii, sec. 3. 

25 Constitution, 1882, art. vi, sec. 2. 

26 Machinists' Monthly Journal, January, 191 1, p. 15. 

27 Proceedings, 1893, P- 4 1 * 



78 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [416 

Another method of limiting the number of men who 
must be turned back is to refuse temporarily all travelling 
or transfer cards. The Cigar Makers in 1886 passed a 
rule giving local unions on strike power to reject all travel- 
ling cards, provided the strike was approved by the national 
union. 28 This rule was amended in 1896 by making an 
exception in the case of sick members. The Freight 
Handlers 29 and the Stove Mounters 30 have a similar rule. 
The Steam Fitters in 1897 also provided against transfer 
at such times. 31 A local union of the Bakery and Con- 
fectionery Workers must have the approval of the general 
executive board before it may refuse to admit members from 
the national union on travelling cards during a strike or 
lockout in its district. 32 The Bookbinders, when a strike 
involves more than one third of the membership, allow the 
local union to reject all travelling cards, 33 while under the 
same conditions a local union of the Theatrical Stage 
Employes may reject such cards for three months, or, 
with the consent of the national president, for six months. 34 
The Cement Workers, the Horseshoers, the Operative 
Plasterers, and the Painters also provide against such 
transfers. Members who have had a bona fide residence of 
one year or more within the jurisdiction of a local union of 
the Operative Plasterers prior to a strike or lockout have 
the privilege of returning. One of the reasons for these 
restrictions on transfers is that if some employers hold out 
while others accede to the demands, it becomes difficult 
to get employment for local members. 

The need of conserving all the strength of a national 
union during a period of difficulty has promoted the feeling 
that any member leaving the organization at such a time 
is a traitor to the cause. The Painters, for instance, allow 
a member to sever his connection with the brotherhood if 

28 Constitution, 1886, art. vi, sec. 19. 

29 Constitution, 1910, art. xiv, sec. 2. 

30 Constitution, 1910, art. ix, sec. 4. 

31 Proceedings, 1897, p. 7. 

32 Constitution, 191 1, art. xxii, sec. 6. 

33 Constitution, 19 10, art. x, sec. 14. 

34 Constitution, 191 1, art. vi, sec. 8. 



417] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 79 

he pays up all dues and other arrearages and does not con- 
tinue to work as a journeyman, but it does not accept any 
resignation during a strike or a lockout. 35 In the same 
manner, the return of a charter by any local union before 
an anticipated strike or during a strike is regarded as 
reprehensible. The Chain Makers provide that any lodge 
so acting shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars. 
The return of a charter by any lodge is to be investigated, 
and the decision of the executive council after such investi- 
gation stands until the next convention. Members of 
lodges returning their charters may remain " isolated 
members" provided they comply with the rules of the 
national union. 36 Some unions issue no charters and 
initiate no new members during strikes, while others 
suspend the usual restrictions on the admission of members 
at such a time. 

The feeling against anyone taking the place of a striker 
is shown by the use of such opprobrious epithets as "scab" 
and "rat." The epithet "scab" was used by a witness in 
the trial of the Philadelphia Cordwainers in 1806 in de- 
scribing a "turn-out" in 1799, and this is probably the 
first recorded use of the term. 37 The oath of the Cord- 
wainers required them to obtain the wage scale and did not 
allow them to work beside those who did not. A witness 
at the trial of the Pittsburg Cordwainers in 1815 said: 
"The means we took to get our wages were a turn-out; 
Scabbing a shop is leaving it, and those who worked there 
after that were scabs." 38 Another epithet for one working 
during a strike, used in 1827, was "dung." 39 The term 
"rat" used by the union printers in the same connection 
appeared first in this country in 1816 and was in all prob- 
ability brought from England. 40 The Buffalo Tailors in 
1824 penalized their members acting as strike breakers by 
publishing their names so that they could not get a job 

35 Constitution, 1910, sec. 48. 

36 Proceedings, 1904, p. II. 

37 Commons and Gilmore, vol. iii, p. 75. 

38 Ibid., vol. iv, p. 26. 

39 Ibid., p. 139. 

40 Barnett, p. 23. 



80 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [4 1 8 

with union tailors. For the same offence the Philadelphia 
Journeymen Tailors in 1827 imposed a fine of five dollars. 41 
In 1854 the Journeymen Stone Cutters' Association adopted 
a rule that any member working during a strike or contrary 
to rules was to be notified that unless he desisted he would 
be "scabbed," and that if he still persisted notice would be 
sent to all other Stone Cutters' associations throughout 
the United States "requesting them to discountenance 
him as faithless to his pledge and an enemy to the trade." 42 
The Baltimore Cigar Makers sent in 1856 to the New York 
and Philadelphia unions the names of a number of journey- 
men who had refused to obey a strike order, evidently with 
the idea of keeping those named from working in union 
shops. 43 A member of the Iron Molders was expelled in 
1866 for refusing to strike, and a rule was passed in 1876 
to expel all members who worked while a strike was on. 44 
The necessity of vigorous action is seen in an experience 
of the Granite Cutters' Union. This organization in 1883 
declared a strike off because union men coming to the 
place of strike refused to deposit their cards in the local 
branch and went to work where the strike was on, saying: 
"When we leave here nobody will know who we are, and 
we can go to work in any Union Yard." 45 This was done 
in spite of the fact that the Granite Cutters' Association 
had passed a rule in 1880 that "all members or non-members 
opposing members in a legal dispute shall be considered 
as enemies of the common cause," to be fined not less than 
$10 or more than $25 except in extreme cases. 46 Some 
unions provide for either fine or expulsion, and expel those 
members who continue to work during a strike or who act 
as strike breakers. Some of these unions allow an expelled 
member to be reinstated, but only on the payment of a 

41 Commons and Gilmore, vol. iv, p. 218. 

42 Constitution, 1854, art. ix. 

43 F. T. Stockton, "The Closed Shop in American Trade Unions," in 
Johns Hopkins University Studies, ser. xxix, no. 3, p. 28. 

44 International Journal [Iron Molders], November, 1866, p. 249; 
Constitution, 1876, art. xii, sec. 2. 

^Granite Cutters' Journal, May, 1883, p. 4. 
46 Constitution, 1880, art. xiii. 



419] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 8 1 

fine, which in the Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron 
Shipbuilders includes all fines, as well as dues, assessments, 
reinstatement stamps and, if the lapse is over twelve months, 
an additional $3. 47 Fines varying from $5 to $100 are im- 
posed by the Actors, the Broom Makers, the Carpenters 
and Joiners, the Iron Molders, the Paper Makers, the 
Paving Cutters, the Sheet Metal Workers, the Steam 
Engineers, the Stove Mounters, the Tile Layers, and the 
Wood Carvers. In the Pattern Makers and the Teamsters 
suspension is frequently used, carrying with it the forfeiture 
of all rights, privileges, and benefits from date of com- 
mencement of offense. In the Pattern Makers the penalty 
may be fine, suspension, or expulsion. 48 Especially in- 
dicative of the feeling against strike breakers is a resolu- 
tion adopted by the Locomotive Engineers in 1904 to the 
effect that the election by a division as a delegate of any 
one who, after September, 1904, took the place of another 
in a strike should be considered an offense, and, upon con- 
viction, such division should have its charter suspended 
until the meeting of the next convention. 49 

In many unions efforts are made to prevent the em- 
ployer's having work done in other shops. Members con- 
tinuing to work in such places are subject to fine or expul- 
sion or both. Mandatory rules directing the national 
officers to stop such work are found, for example, in the 
Brushmakers, the Coopers, the Granite Cutters, the Saw 
Smiths, the Machinists, and the Photo-Engravers. In 
1889 the Locomotive Engineers adopted a resolution 
directing their members in case of a legal strike, if em- 
ployed on a connecting or adjacent road, to refuse to 
handle the cars of the railroad against which there was a 
grievance until the dispute should be amicably settled. 
The railroads took the matter into the courts, and the 
rule was declared unlawful by a circuit court in 1895. 

47 Constitution, 1910, pp. 47, 49. 

48 Laws, 1910, art. 29, sec. 4. 

49 Constitution, 1910, sec. 25, p. 12. 
6 



82 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [42O 

This judgment having been affirmed by the United States 
Supreme Court in 1897, the rule was repealed. 50 

In 1902 the same question came up, and the policy of 
diverting traffic from roads having trouble by using "all 
means secretly and quietly and individually," thus avoid- 
ing any clash with the law, was adopted: "Any brother 
being discharged from a road not on a strike, for using his 
influence to divert traffic from the road on a strike shall be 
supported by the Brotherhood and be paid $40.00 per 
month, as per By-Laws, for a period of six months." 51 
The policy of the railroad brotherhoods is to refuse to allow 
their members to take the place of a striker or to do any 
of the work of a striker in any strike inaugurated by any 
recognized labor organization. The Locomotive Engineers 
are instructed not to do any work which they would not 
do if there were no strike. 52 If the machinists are on strike, 
the engineers have no right to do machinists' work. 

Although strenuous efforts are made to keep the em- 
ployer from getting his work done elsewhere, other em- 
ployers in the same place who agree to pay the wage scale 
and abide by the union rules may ordinarily continue to 
run their shops provided they confine themselves to their 
own work and do not help the firm whose men are out. 
In the Bookbinders, the Cigar Makers, and the Plate 
Printers members must have the consent of the local union 
to continue at work. The declared policy of the Bakery and 
Confectionery Workers is to restrict a strike to as few shops 
as possible so that the members at work may assist finan- 
cially those who are on strike. 53 

The importance of a vigorous policy against strike 
breaking and delinquent members is apparent; but it is 
also clear that in a bitter and protracted struggle the 
return of former members weakens by just so much the 
forces in opposition. It is at this point that the national 

50 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, August, 1895, p. 678; 
August, 1897, p. 819. 

51 Proceedings, 1902, p. 93. 
62 Ibid., p. 106. 

53 Constitution, 191 1, art. xviii, sec. 10. 



42 1 ] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 83 

union frequently finds it necessary to override the local 
union. A local union of the Bricklayers and Masons at the 
1910 convention of that union protested against the action 
of the general executive board in reissuing a travelling 
card to a delinquent member. The answer of the board 
was that it had not permitted former misconduct or unpaid 
fines to interfere with the management of the strike, and 
it protested strongly against any action that would in 
any way bind or restrict the board in such a case. "This 
freedom from constitutional law," it said, "in so far as 
the removal of fines is concerned, free initiations and the 
issuing of travelling cards besides other inducements, we 
consider absolutely necessary." This policy was sustained 
by the convention. 54 

In the case of non-unionists, special action is taken at 
times. The American Flint Glass Workers' Union in 1892 
gave their national officers, acting with the executive 
officer of the local union, full authority to deal with such 
cases. 55 In 1910, during a general strike in Philadelphia, 
President Daly of the Metal Polishers' Union, after con- 
sultation with several members of the executive board, in 
order to secure the greatest possible unity of action offered 
all non-unionists who struck with the Metal Polishers and 
stayed on strike until the strike was settled free member- 
ship cards in lieu of strike pay. 56 Another method used at 
times is the proclaiming of a general amnesty for a set 
period to all "scabs" or "rats." 

No stone is left unturned to prevent the employers 
from obtaining workmen in place of the strikers and thus 
breaking the force of the strike. At the beginning of the 
strike of the locomotive engineers and firemen on the 
Burlington Railroad in 1888, Grand Master Sargent said: 
"There will be no intimidation, but we shall claim the 
right to buy any locomotive engineer that we please. We 
may decide to go to a locomotive engineer and hire him 

54 Proceedings, 1910, p. 151. 

65 Proceedings, 1892, pp. 58, 197. 

66 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 84. 



84 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [422 

ourselves; no one can question us that privilege." 57 The 
management of the strike is thus described: "Every strange 
face that appeared on the scene secured their [the pickets'] 
attention. If he was inclined to work for the Burlington, 
his manliness was appealed to, and if that appeal did not 
succeed he was hired, if possible, and most of them who 
came first, came under a misconception of the situation and 
could be easily persuaded to go away and leave the battle 
to be fought by the interested parties. Many of these 
were given something for expenses, while others were void 
of principle and put a selling price on themselves, ranging 
from $10.00 to 550.00. Hundreds were in various ways 
persuaded to leave. The picture was filled with all phases 
of humanity, from the appearance of high respectability 
to the level of the gutter." 58 

The usual plan in many unions during a strike is to set 
pickets to watch the shops and to endeavor to prevent 
men from going to work. The instructions issued by the 
Bakery and Confectionery Workers require that all pickets 
shall patrol and watch closely all strike-bound shops and 
persuade any one intending to take a striker's place not 
to do so, and that they shall report at once to the strike 
committee or strike meeting any favorable or unfavorable 
incidents. 59 The Carpenters and Joiners also recommend 
that pickets be sent to stand at each railroad station or 
other place of entry into the city and to guard each job 
or shop where the men have quit. 60 This is an old practice. 
A witness at the trial of the Philadelphia Cordwainers in 
1806 said that in a turn-out in 1799 there was a "Tramping 
Committee" to "watch the ' Jers' that they did not scab it." 
This committee was changed every day, and members were 
obliged to serve on it or pay a fine. 61 Picketing is also 
spoken of in connection with the Journeymen Tailors' 
strikes in 1827 and 1836. 62 In 1865 two of the members 

57 Chicago Tribune, February 26, 1888; Salmons, p. 173. 

53 Salmons, p. 205. 

69 Bakers' Journal, May 13, 191 1, p. 3. 

60 Strike Instructions, indorsed by the G. E. B., March 29, 1892. 

61 Commons and Gilmore, vol. iii, p. 75. 

62 Ibid., vol. iv, pp. 109, 316. 



423] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 85 

in a local union of the Cigar Makers were sued for enticing 
workmen away from a struck shop. 63 

A vigorous boycott is also frequently carried on. In 
some instances, when the goods of the employer against 
whom there is a strike are of common consumption, mem- 
bers go from house to house advising against the use of the 
article; a canvass is made of the stores handling the unfair 
goods, and meetings of different societies and local unions 
of other crafts are visited. In some instances advertising 
matter is furnished the local union by the national union 
free of charge. 64 At the same time news of the strike is 
published, and the name of the firm against which there is 
a strike is printed in the "Unfair List" or "We Don't 
Patronize Column" of the trade-union journals. 

Another means used in forcing a successful issue to a 
strike is the extension of the strike to other contracts, 
shops, or mills of the employer or even to fair employers. 
The Granite Cutters authorize the national executive coun- 
cil to extend a strike to take in all of the work of an em- 
ployer. 65 The national officers of the United Mine Workers 
may order a suspension of work in any other district or 
districts than the one affected provided that such action is 
necessary to conserve the general interests. 66 In the 
International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, however, if a 
strike is not settled within six days, the national officers 
are directed to shut down the other mills of the company 
against which there is a strike. 67 In the Plumbers 68 and 
the Lathers 69 a strike in any particular shop means that 
the employer has become unfair throughout the entire 
jurisdiction of the union, and no member can work for him, 
directly or indirectly, until the strike has been settled. 
Any local union of the Plumbers permitting its members to 

63 Proceedings, 1865, p. 48. 

64 The Stove Mounters' International Union spent $517.45 for printed 
matter during one strike in 19 10 (Proceedings, 19 10, pp. 21-23). 

65 Constitution, 1905, sec. 112. 

66 Proceedings, 1911, p. 119. 

67 Constitution, 1912, sec. 54. 

68 Constitution, 1910, sec. 170. 

69 Constitution, 191 1, art. x, sec. 12. 



86 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [424 

work for such an employer is liable to suspension. 70 In the 
Tin Plate Workers a legalized strike in any district requires 
the members to stop work at the same time in any mill or 
works in the district belonging to the firm or corporation 
against which the strike has been called, and the national 
president is authorized after the strike has continued for 
seven days to extend the strike to all the works of said 
corporation or firm. 71 

Commissary departments have been inaugurated at 
times to make the expense of a strike as low as possible. 
The Cigar Makers during a prolonged strike in New York 
City in 1877 spent $48,476.39. The reason given as to 
why the expenses were not more was that the relief com- 
mittee supplied the strikers with bread, beef, and the other 
necessaries of life purchased at wholesale prices. A 
thousand loaves of bread and 2500 pounds of meat were 
distributed each day. 72 A convention of the Coopers in 
1904, because of the large number of strikes on hand and 
because of lack of funds, instructed their local executive 
boards to establish commissary departments for giving 
relief to strikers actually in need. 73 

Several national unions have adopted plans to compete 
with the firms or corporations against which a strike has 
been called. The general executive board of the Street 
and Electric Railway Employes purchased in 1905 three 
automobiles to carry passengers during a strike at Saginaw, 
Mich. As a result of this experiment a special committee 
at the convention of the same year recommended that the 
automobiles already purchased should be kept and an 
appropriation of $20,000 made from the defense fund 
for the purchase of additional ones. One of the speakers 
affirmed his belief that automobiles would be "a material 
defense in second class and smaller cities and towns." 
The report was adopted, and rules were passed later pro- 
viding for the exclusive control of such automobiles by 

70 Constitution, 1910, sec. 170; 191 1, art. x, sec. 12. 

71 Constitution, 1908, art. viii, sec. 2. 

72 Proceedings, 1893, P- 59- 

73 Proceedings, 1904, p. 507. 



425] THE MANAGEMENT OF STRIKES 87 

the general executive board. Local divisions in order to 
secure their use must be in good standing, and all profits 
accruing from their operation were to be placed to the 
credit of the defense fund. 74 In 1908 the Photo-Engravers 
likewise gave their executive council power to purchase one 
or more " Portable Photo-Engraving" plants to be owned 
by the national union and to be used as a means of defense 
in case of strikes or lockouts. 75 

In a protracted strike in Los Angeles the Brewery 
Workmen, in order that union beer might be on sale, 
established a beer agency. The experience of the union 
had shown that unless union beer could be had, "all their 
principles and all requests will not keep them [working- 
men] from drinking scab beer." The national executive 
board was authorized at the 1910 convention to continue 
this policy and to invest national funds so that the union 
would be in a position to furnish union beer in localities 
where strikes or lockouts were on. 76 The strike committee 
was obliged to import the beer into Los Angeles by the car- 
load from a long distance, as all breweries connected with 
the United States Brewers' Association are pledged to 
remain neutral in case of disputes and under no condition 
to furnish any beer for the district in which a strike is on. 
The striking metal polishers of Philadelphia formed in 
191 1 the Penn Art Metal Company by investing a thousand 
dollars, and used the profits to pay strike benefits. 77 Simi- 
larly, the national officers of the Bricklayers and Masons 
during strikes at Alton, 111., and Aberdeen, S. D., sent 
agents who secured contracts for the erection of buildings 
and thus provided work for the members. The general 
executive board placed funds in local banks at both places 
to the credit of the union agents. 

74 Motorman and Conductor, July, 1905, p. 11; Proceedings, 1905, 

PP- 51-53. 

76 Proceedings, 1908, pp. 19-23. 

76 Proceedings, 1910, pp. 167, 165, 170, 171, 178. 

Invested in Beer Agency $ 7,380.00 

Invested in cooperage 10,473.91 

Security deposited with breweries 4,480.00 

Advanced to Los Angeles Beer Agency . . . 2,000.00 

7T Proceedings, 1911, p. 173. 



CHAPTER VII 

Strike Benefits 

The chimneys of Manchester, it has been said, were 
the real cause of the downfall of Napoleon because they 
gave England financial independence. Nations must have 
long purses as well as heavy artillery in order to win battles. 
The same is true in regard to industrial disputes, for the 
worker must live while the strike is going on. Nearly all 
of the older and stronger unions have provided in various 
forms "the sinews of war" in the shape of strike benefits. 
The collection and payment of these benefits have gradually 
been put into the hands of the national officers. This is a 
large, if not the largest, factor in the increasing control of 
strikes by the national unions. 

The early trade unions paid benefits to some extent, for 
the Philadelphia Cordwainers in 1806 supplemented by 
benefits what they received by cobbling and by doing 
market work. 1 The New York Society of Printers gave 
relief in 1809, six dollars being awarded two members 
"who had been thrown out of employment in consequence 
of refusing to work for less than the established prices." 2 
The Pittsburg Cordwainers in 181 5 paid no fixed allowance; 
but poor members distressed for market money were allowed 
to take three or four dollars out of the box. 3 This early 
trade-union movement reached its height just before the 
panic of 1837. The General Trades Union of New York 
and vicinity during 1834 to 1836 supported strikes of various 
trades — bakers, hatters, rope-makers, sailmakers, cabinet- 
makers, stone-cutters, cordwainers, weavers, curriers, leather 
dressers, tailors — in and about New York, besides furnishing 

1 Commons and Gilmore, vol. iii, p. 33. 

2 Barnett, p. 267. 

3 Commons and Gilmore, vol. iv, p. 34. 



427] STRIKE BENEFITS 89 

aid to strikes in Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities. 
"The different Trades are combined together in what is 
called a 'Trade Union,' and each in its turn is supported 
by the others in striking for higher wages," 4 reported The 
Journal of Commerce. The Bookbinders in 1836 were 
likewise supported by a number of trade unions. 5 

The present trade-union movement began about 1850. 
At a convention of the journeymen printers of the United 
States held in New York in that year it was provided that 
each union was to have the right in time of strike to borrow 
from sister unions to the amount of one dollar for each 
member. This convention at its third meeting in 1852 
resolved itself into the First Session of the National Typo- 
graphical Union. By i860 the members of printers' unions 
had come to regard it as the duty of the union to give 
relief in case of strike; 6 but until the establishment in 
1885 of the national strike fund there was no penalty 
attached to the breaking of national strike rules. 7 

The evolution of strike benefits may be brought out 
best by a study of their development in the Iron Molders, 
the Cigar Makers, and the Bricklayers and Masons, three 
of the oldest unions. The Iron Molders' International 
Union was organized in 1859; at first it was simply a federa- 
tion and provided no definite strike benefits, but authorized 
the president to levy assessments for mutual assistance in 
time of trouble. A strike in 1859 was financed by an 
assessment imposed by the local union upon the members 
still at work and by contributions from other local unions 
made through the national union. The convention of 
i860 provided for revenue by an annual tax of five cents 
on each member. 8 The convention of 1861 gave a local 
union on strike $350. Numerous small strikes were 
reported at this convention. A pro rata assessment not 

4 Commons and Gilmore, vol. v, p. 205. 

5 Ibid., p. 327. 

6 Barnett, p. 268. 

7 Ibid., p. 327. See chapter in this study on The Development of 
Control. 

8 International Journal [Iron Molders], February, 1874, P- 2 58; 
March, 1874, p. 289; March 31, 1881, p. 4. 



90 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [428 

to exceed two per cent on the wages earned was levied by 
the convention of 1863. One strike in that year cost the 
national union $12,642.38. Another strike in this same 
year, growing out of the apprentice question, cost about 
$30,000, and continued over a year. 9 President Sylvis 
reported to the convention of 1866 that the cost to the 
organization and the local unions for strikes and lockouts 
for the six years ending January 1, 1866, was $1,161,582.26, 
or on an average per year of $24 per member. The usual 
method of raising the benefits was the issuing of a circular 
by the national president to all the local unions calling 
upon the members to pay a tax equal to five per cent upon 
their earnings. It was left with each local union to vote 
to enforce this provision. 10 In 1866 the recommendation 
was made that as trouble was anticipated from the action 
of an employers' convention, every local union should so 
arrange its finances that it could remit promptly all strike 
assessments to the central office. The convention of 1867 
authorized the national president to lay an assessment; 
but delay in remittances often led to such payments being 
made in union script instead of in cash. A large number 
of strikes in 1869 resulted in a considerable debt, which was 
only gradually paid off. 11 Delay in payment by local 
unions continued, making strike benefits uncertain. In 
1882 a strike reserve fund was established. 

The Cigar Makers, organized in 1864, did not provide 
any means for financing strikes, although. the first consti- 
tution stated that a local union on strike "shall receive the 
support of each and every union." 12 The plan of voluntary 
contributions was adopted by the officers in the absence 
of all rules upon the subject. 13 Circulars were sent in each 
case, and local unions responded with aid. An assessment 

9 "This strike developed a class of men who would not leave the 
City, but remained on strike and received strike money when they could 
have earned more outside of Philadelphia. Timid to try fortunes 
elsewhere" (Iron Molders' Journal, May 31, 1881, p. 4). 

10 International Journal [Iron Molders], October, 1866, p. 250. 

11 Iron Molders' Journal, April 30, 1879, p. 2. 

12 Constitution, 1864, art. vi, sec. 1. 

13 Proceedings, 1866, p. 69. 



429] STRIKE BENEFITS 91 

was laid by the convention of 1867 in the form of a tax of 
twenty- five cents per month per member for strike purposes, 
the money to remain with the local union subject to the 
call of the national union. 14 Two protracted strikes in 
1869 and 1870 necessitated heavy extra assessments. In 
place of cash, due bills were issued to members. In 1869 
the membership was 5800; in 1873 it had decreased to 
3771. In 1879 a permanent strike fund was adopted in 
place of assessments. 

The experience of the Bricklayers and Masons, organized 
in 1865, has been much the same as that of the Iron Molders 
and the Cigar Makers, although its first president recom- 
mended the establishment of a strike fund. 15 In 1868 a 
circular was issued and an assessment laid on the local 
unions by President Frost according to an estimate of 
what was necessary for the strike. 16 Another tax during 
the same year of twelve and a half cents per member was 
ordered sent directly to the local union on strike by the 
national president. 17 A permanent relief fund for strikes 
was urged by President Gaul in 1869, the need of such 
a plan having been seen by President Frost in the previous 
year. Gaul declared that the failure of the strike in that 
year was "owing to the delay necessarily arising from 
our present plan of collecting assessments." Assessments 
continued to be laid for strike benefits, although in 1875 
President Carr said that a strike fund was needed "on 
account of the tendencies to utter neglect of individual 
unions in responding to the requisition of the National 
Union for relief assessments." 18 The convention of 1882 
considered the raising of a strike fund, but deemed it im- 
practicable. Strike assessments continued, and although 
the convention of 1887 passed a rule requiring subordinate 

14 Proceedings, 1867, p. 151. 

15 Proceedings, 1882, p. 17. 

16 Proceedings, 1868, p. 14. 

17 Proceedings, 1868, p. 18. The constitution required during a 
strike a tax of not less than 10 and not exceeding 50 cents on each 
member per day, sickness excepted, and all money thus raised was to 
be sent to the general treasury (Constitution, 1867, art. xii, sec. 4). 

18 Proceedings, 1875, p. 8. 



92 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [43O 

unions to levy a per capita tax of one dollar in advance, it 
was not until 1891 that a regular strike fund was established. 

The Knights of St. Crispin, a national organization of 
shoemakers, the largest of the many national unions that 
flourished during the ten years after the Civil War, had a 
similar experience. Grievance funds were raised by 
annual contributions of each member to a "contingent 
fund" held in the treasuries of the local lodges, and by 
special assessments. Requisition on the "special con- 
tingent fund" by numerous strikes led to the downfall of 
the organization. 19 

The experience of these unions demonstrated that it was 
necessary to have funds on hand with which to pay strike 
benefits instead of being obliged to wait for the payment 
of strike assessments. Such funds should be accumulated 
and held in reserve for times of necessity, thereby distrib- 
uting the strain of payment over a longer period of time. 
The power of sustaining members is the key to success in a 
strike, and this can be secured only when there is an 
accumulated fund to draw on. Benefits paid after a 
strike has ended are not of much influence in winning that 
particular strike. 

The Cigar Makers from 1873 to 1879 could not pay the 
strike benefits provided for by their rules ; strikes were lost, 
members withdrew, and wages were reduced. A reserve 
fund was inaugurated in 1879 by providing that every 
local union should collect from every member in standing 
15 cents per month and retain this as a strike fund. For 
every new member admitted 25 cents was to be added to 
the fund. In 1881 the amount was raised to 20 cents per 
month and 50 cents for every new member. The funds 
were to remain in the custody of the local union subject 
to the order of the national officers, and were not to be 
used except for strike purposes. When the amount fell 
below $1.50 per member, an assessment was to be made. 20 

19 D. C. Lescohier, "The Knights of St. Crispin," in Bulletin of the 
University of Wisconsin, no. 365, pp. 32-35. 

20 Constitution, 1879, art. xiii, sec. 6; 1881, art. vi, sec. 12. Any 
local union failing to remit funds within five days when so directed by 
the executive board was to be suspended. 



43 1 J STRIKE BENEFITS 93 

Later the reserve fund was increased to $10 per member. 
An editorial in the official organ concerning this fund said: 
"We claim that the accumulation of a large fund, to which 
the adopted laws are but a commencement, will have the 
influence of decreasing strikes and in lessening failures. 
The employers of labor generally attack those organizations 
which are weak and without funds and thereby unable to 
hold out long enough to injure their business." 21 

For several years prior to the inauguration of a strike 
fund, writers in the official organ of the Iron Molders 
urged the accumulation of a defense fund to meet the 
exigencies of protracted contests. One writer said that 
organization was necessary, but that a full treasury was 
even more so, and that without a reserve fund defeat was 
sure. Another writer declared that all benefits should be 
paid promptly, and that two or three months should not 
be allowed to elapse before strikers received their benefits. 22 
President Fitzpatrick recommended in his report to the 
convention of 1882 such a fund, and a tax of one dollar 
per member was laid. Power was also granted to the 
executive board to levy assessments to replenish the fund 
in case of emergency. 23 In 1886 the assessment was limited 
to $1 per member per quarter; but this limitation was 
revoked in 1888. 24 The finances of the organization were 
put on a stronger basis in 1890 by the inauguration of a 
tax of 40 cents a month on every member for the use of the 
national union and by having fifty-eight per cent of this 
40 cents, or 23 cents, go into the strike fund. In 1895 the 
assessment was changed to 10 cents per week, with fifty- 
eight per cent to go to the strike fund. In 1902 an addi- 
tional levy of $1 per year, payable quarterly by every 
member for the benefit of the fund, was made. 

The Flint Glass Workers established a "resistance fund" 
as early as 1881 by setting apart twenty cents per member 

?1 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, June 10, 1879. 

22 Iron Molders' Journal, July 10, 1880, p. 1; November 30, 1881, 
P- 3- 

23 Proceedings, 1882, pp. 12, 77. 

24 Proceedings, 1886, p. 51; 1888, p. 102. 



94 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [432 

per month "for the aid of any member or members, who 
shall be engaged in redressing a grievance by strike, and 
to be used for no other purpose." Special assessments 
could also be made by the national officers. 25 Secretary 
Dillon spoke at the 1887 convention of the advantage of 
having a substantial fund, and claimed that strikes in unions 
with such a fund were less numerous, shorter in duration, 
and of less severity than those in unions without strike 
funds. 26 The present rule was established in 1888, and 
requires that a certain percentage of the earnings of all 
members, to be collected at each factory or shop by two 
clerks, shall be paid over to the financial secretary and 
sent by him to headquarters. From two to ten per cent 
of earnings have been thus assessed for the resistance fund, 
the rate varying according to prospective necessity. 

The Operative Potters, like the Flint Glass Workers, 
raise the money for their strike fund by an assessment on 
the earnings of their members. The amount of the assess- 
ment was fixed at the time of the establishment of the 
fund in 1894 at one per cent of all earnings. 27 There is a 
collector in each pottery, to whom the members must 
show their pay envelopes and who collects the assessment 
and turns it over to the local secretary. The latter at the 
end of each month sends it on to headquarters. Members 
failing to pay for three consecutive pay days, or six weeks, 
are subject to suspension. 28 

In 1885 the Printers, as the outcome of many years of 
discussion, adopted a plan for a strike fund. The failure 
to inaugurate such a fund previously had been due to 
lack of any strong need for it. "The printing industry," 
says Professor Barnett, "was so essentially a local in- 
dustry, and the conditions in different places varied so 
widely, that the printers of one town had little direct 
interest in assisting the printers of other places. The 
older and more powerful unions, feeling themselves able to 

25 Constitution, 1 880-1 881, art. vii, sees. 1-3. 

26 Proceedings, 1887, pp. 68, 71. 

27 Proceedings, 1894, p. 19. 

28 Local Constitution, 1910, sees. 112, 135, 136. 



433] STRIKE BENEFITS 95 

finance their own strikes, were unwilling to contribute to a 
fund which they feared would be used chiefly to support 
the smaller and weaker unions." 29 Even where the need 
of a national fund was obvious, objection was frequently 
made. An opponent of the establishment by the Stone 
Cutters in 1900 of a strike fund by an annual levy de- 
nounced the plan as all wrong "because such a fund would 
become a corruption fund, and would prove the rock upon 
which the National Union would go to pieces in the near 
future." 30 

Not only is a national defense fund maintained by many 
unions, but at times a special defense fund is raised for a 
definite purpose. The Bricklayers and Masons, for 
instance, in 1907 found it necessary to work against the 
open-shop policy of the National Manufacturers' Asso- 
ciation, and so instituted a non-union shop defense fund. 
A circular was sent out to all the local unions asking for 
donations and emphasizing the fact that there had been 
no extra assessments for sixteen years. The convention 
of 1908 laid an assessment of a dollar a year on each mem- 
ber for the next two years, and provided that the fund was 
to be used only in non-union shop districts. About 
$44,000 was expended from this fund in 1908. 31 A local 
union on strike in 191 1, although it had not been organized 
a year as required for official strike sanction, was granted 
aid from this fund by the national officers. 32 

Variations from the ordinary plan for a strike fund are 
found in the Cap Makers and in the Chain Makers. These 
unions have no national defense funds, and have endeavored 
to remedy the deficiency by making provision for local 
funds. The rules of the former union provide that every 
local union shall have in its treasury six months after it 
has been chartered the equivalent of two weeks' strike 

29 P. 36. 

30 Stone Cutters' Journal, October, 1900, p. 7. 

31 Forty-second Annual Report of President and Secretary, 1907, 
pp. 419, 459; Proceedings, 1908, p. 199; Forty-third Annual Report of 
President and Secretary, 1908, p. 339. 

32 Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer, April, 191 1, p. 75. 



96 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [434 

benefits for its members, and this sum may be raised by 
assessment. 33 The Chain Makers provided in 1908 that 
each of their local unions should raise a strike fund by 
requiring every member to pay a weekly amount speci- 
fied by the local union. Members transferring to another 
local union may have their funds transferred upon de- 
positing their cards. In case of a strike a member receives 
$6 per week until his fund is exhausted. Every member 
must, however, pay into this fund until he has $150 to his 
credit. Members withdrawing are not to receive their 
funds for six months, while in case of death the funds go 
to the nearest relative or are used for burial purposes. 34 

The methods used by the Cigar Makers, the Iron Molders, 
the Flint Glass Workers, and the Operative Potters for the 
establishment and maintenance of strike funds are typical. 
Strike funds are accumulated (1) by a regular tax on every 
member; or (2) a certain percentage of all dues is so 
apportioned; or (3) special dues, such as those imposed 
for the initiation or reinstatement of members, are dedi- 
cated to the fund ; or (4) special assessments are made from 
time to time. 

(1) Among the unions levying an annual tax may be 
found the Iron, Tin and Steel Workers, the Elevator Con- 
structors, and the Metal Polishers, who levy $3 per year; 
the Railway Conductors, who levy $2 ; the Brewery Work- 
men, the Railway Trainmen, the Iron Molders, and the 
Street and Electric Car Employees, who levy $1. 

(2) The amount set aside from the dues varies in differ- 
ent unions. The Sheet Metal Workers turn 5 cents of a 
15 cents per capita tax per month into the fund. 35 The 
Tile Layers also set aside 5 cents per member per month. 36 
The Tin Plate Workers appropriate 10 cents out of a per 
capita tax of 25 cents per month. 37 Thirty-eight per cent 

33 Constitution [n. d.], art. xvi, sec. I. 

34 Proceedings, 1908, p. 68. 
36 Proceedings, 1901, p. 3. 

36 Proceedings, 1910, pp. 9, 25, 34. In addition to this member- 
ship tax, all local unions pay five dollars per quarter to be added to the 
defense fund. 

87 Constitution, 1908, art. vi, sec. 2. 



4351 STRIKE BENEFITS 97 

of all income is thus used by the Boiler Makers, 38 thirty- 
three and a third by the Tobacco Workers, 39 and fifteen 
per cent by the Painters. 40 

(3) Payments for initiation of members in local unions 
are in some unions turned into the defense fund. The 
Bricklayers and Masons, the Operative Plasterers, and the 
Stove Mounters receive one dollar for the fund for every 
new member, while the Railway Carmen receive two 
dollars. Special assessments may be laid by the general 
executive board in most unions for the defense fund in 
case of necessity or when the fund sinks below a certain 
amount. 41 

(4) There are still a number of unions which finance 
strikes partially or entirely by assessments. Strike assess- 
ments may be imposed (a) by a local union on its own 
members, (b) by a district lodge or district committee, 

(c) by the general executive board of the national union, 

(d) by a referendum vote of the entire membership, and 

(e) by a general convention. The assessment by a local 
union of its own members takes place, of course, only when 
a strike is a local one. 42 The district lodge or district 
committee, which exists where there is more than one local 
union in a place, takes charge in some instances of a strike, 
as has been shown, and it has also power in a number of 
unions to lay strike assessments when necessary. 43 In some 
fifty national unions such assessments are made by the 
executive boards, which have general authority as to time 
and amount. In several unions the amount that may be 

38 Proceedings, 1908, p. 473. 

39 Constitution, 1905, sec. 34. 

40 Constitution, 1911, sec. 191. 

41 The general executive board of the Boot and Shoe Workers was 
given authority in 1899 to raise a strike fund by a series of assessments 
to the amount of five dollars per capita (Proceedings, 1899, p. 38). 

42 A local union of the Barbers levied an assessment of fifty cents per 
member on each member who was working (Journeyman Barber, 
August, 191 1, p. 226). This rule is observed also by the Bakery 
and Confectionery Workers, the Brewery Workmen, the Glove Workers, 
and the Painters, and by those local unions which finance their own 
strikes. 

43 For example, the Boiler Makers, the Carpenters, the Painters, 
the Machinists, and the Brewery Workers. 



98 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [436 

so assessed is fixed by a general rule. 44 The referendum 
vote in the unions which require it covers either all strike 
assessments or those proposed assessments which are in 
excess of the amount fixed by a general rule. 45 A regular 
or a special convention of a national union in cases of general 
strikes orders a special assessment for the particular strike 
and authorizes the general officers to collect the same. 
Special movements, like the one against the open shop by 
the Bricklayers and Masons just described, or an effort 
to obtain a shorter working day, are generally preceded 
by action of the convention looking toward the accumula- 
tion of the sinews of war. 

The Flint Glass Workers in 1887, on the prospect of a 
general strike, laid an assessment of Si a week on each 
member. This was raised to S1.50 per week and then to 
$1.75. In May, 1888, a flat assessment of S16 was laid on 
each employed member. The United Mine Workers in 
1902 during the anthracite coal strike imposed an assess- 
ment of ten per cent on the gross earnings of members in 
certain districts, of Si per week on members in other 
districts, and an assessment of twenty-five per cent upon 
the wages, salaries, or percentages received from the 
organization by all national, district, and subdistrict 
officers and organizers. 46 The Printers during the struggle 
for the eight-hour da} 7 from 1906 to 1908 collected by 
assessment $2,800, ooo. 47 These assessments represent ab- 
normal conditions. Ordinarily, assessments are much 

44 The Bookbinders, the Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta Alliance, and 
the Broom Makers fix the maximum at 25 cents per week; the Inter- 
national Seamen do not allow over Si per month per member, nor for 
more than three months in any one fiscal year; while in the Powder 
Workers and the Wood-Workers the amount prescribed is 50 cents 
and 25 cents a month respectively. The Bridge and Structural Iron 
Workers on account of the McNamara disclosures passed a resolution 
in 191 1 that at any time of "crisis, disaster or fatality" there should 
be no limit set to assessments. 

45 The Boiler Makers in 191 1 by a vote of 4773 to 1887 voted a ten 
weeks' assessment of Si per week per member for boiler makers and 
50 cents per week for workers and apprentices (Boiler Makers' Journal, 
December, 191 1, p. 1006). 

46 Proceedings, Special Convention, 1902, p. 47. 

47 Barnett, p. 80. 



437] STRIKE BENEFITS 99 

smaller, as shown by the following instances: The Com- 
mercial Telegraphers in 1908 taxed their members one 
day's pay; 48 the Carpenters and Joiners in 191 1 made the 
first assessment in eight years, one of 50 cents per member; 
the Stove Mounters in 1906 laid a tax of $1 per member, 
while in the same year the Iron Molders made an assess- 
ment of 10 cents a week, then three levies of $1 each, and, 
finally, one of $1 per month. The United Mine Workers 
in 1910 made a levy of 25 cents per week per member. 
The ordinary penalty for non-payment of such strike 
assessments by local unions or by members is suspension. 49 
Although the collection of strike assessments has not 
ceased, the adoption of the strike fund in some one of its 
various forms has progressed so that today it is found in 
some sixty-five national unions as follows: the Amalga- 
mated Woodworkers, the Bakers, the Barbers, the Brewery 
Workers, the Boot and Shoe Workers, the Bridge and 
Structural Iron Workers, the Bookbinders, the Black- 
smiths, the Bricklayers and Masons, the Brick, Tile and 
Terra Cotta Alliance, the Broom Workers, the Boiler 
Makers, the Car Workers, the Cutting Die Makers, the 
Cap Makers, the Chain Makers, the Coopers, the Cigar 
Makers, the Carriage and Wagon Workers, the Cement 
Workers, the Commercial Telegraphers, the Elevator 
Constructors, the Granite Cutters, the Hatters, the Hotel 
and Restaurant Workers, the Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, 
the Industrial Workers of the World, the Iron Molders, 
the Locomotive Engineers, the Firemen, the Conductors, 
the Trainmen, the Metal Polishers, the Operative Plasterers, 
the Operative Potters, the Painters, the Pattern Makers, 
the Printers, the Photo-Engravers, the Plate Printers, the 
Railroad Clerks, the Railroad Telegraphers, the Railway 
Carmen, the Retail Clerks, the Stone Cutters, the Stove 
Mounters, the Street and Electric Railway Employees, 
the Slate Workers, the Stogie Makers, the Steam Engineers, 

48 Commercial Telegraphers' Journal, June, 1908, p. 340. 

49 The Cement Workers, one of the smaller national unions, imposed 
a strike assessment in 1910, and some seven local unions failed to pay 
and returned their charters (Proceedings, 1910, pp. 21-22). 



100 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [438 

the Steam Fitters, the Sheet Metal Workers, the Teamsters, 
the Tin Plate Workers, the Travelers' Goods and Leather 
Novelty Workers, the Theatrical Stage Employees, the 
Tile Layers, the Tobacco Workers, the Upholsterers, and 
the United Mine Workers. 

Some unions provide a maximum limit to the growth of 
the fund as follows : 

Street and Electric Railway Employees, 1903. . .$ 100,000 
Street and Electric Railway Employees, 1907 50 . . 1,000,000 

Locomotive Engineers 51 500,000 

Railway Conductors 52 200,000 

Railway Trainmen 53 300,000 

Elevator Constructors 54 50,000 

Operative Plasterers 55 . 50,000 

Stone Cutters 56 4,000 

Cutting Die and Cutter Makers 57 300 

Sheet Metal Workers 58 2,000 

Chain Makers 59 per member 150 

Other unions provide that a certain minimum amount 
must be kept: 

Brewery Workmen 60 $25,000 

Granite Cutters 61 25,000 

Tin Plate Workers 62 10,000 

Slate Workers 63 300 

Wood Carvers, 64 per member 1 

The ordinary procedure is to continue strike dues until 

50 Proceedings, 1903, pp. 14, 35; 1907, p. 64. 

51 All over $50,000 to be applied to Brotherhood of Locomotive 
Engineers' Building (Constitution, 1910, sec. 46). 

52 Proceedings, 1891, pp. 341-347; Constitution, 1909, sec. 75. 

63 Protective Fund, Rule no. 16. 

54 Proceedings, 1904, pp. 10, II. 

55 The Plasterer, August, 1911, p. 18. 

66 Constitution, 1909, art. vi, by-laws, art. xvii. 

67 Constitution, 191 1, art. xvi, sec. 5. 
58 Proceedings, 1905, p. 353. 

69 Proceedings, 1908, p. 68. 

60 Constitution, 1910, art. xiii, sec. 4. 

61 Constitution, 1909, sec. 18. 

62 Constitution, 1908, art. vi, sec. 4. 

68 Constitution, 1906, art. xi, sec. 2. 

64 Constitution, 1908, p. 16. 



439] STRIKE BENEFITS 1 01 

the maximum amount is reached and to lay a special 
assessment when the amount falls below the minimum set. 
The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin 
Workers requires, however, that not less than ten thousand 
dollars shall be in the national treasury in order that 
benefits may be paid. 65 

The status of the strike funds in some ten unions, shown 
by the amounts on hand at a certain time, was as follows: 

Bakers, April I, 1911 $ 30,516.06 

Barbers, July 1, 191 1 15,362.17 

Boot and Shoe Workers, 1909 151,626.53 

Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, June 30, 

1910 33,103-37 

Flint Glass Workers, Sept., 191 1 96,000.00 

Hotel and Restaurant Workers, Jan. 1, 1909. . . 21,294.77 

Locomotive Firemen, Jan. 1, 191 1 352,752.54 

Painters, Jan. 1, 191 1 14,529.67 

Operative Potters, June i, 1910 320,163.58 

The variation in amounts is due to the length of time the 
fund has been established, the number of members, and 
the dues paid into the fund. The amount of the fund of 
the Bakery and Confectionery Workers since its institution 
in 1904 has been as follows: 66 

Oct. 1, 1905, balance on hand $ 142.10 

" 2,847.00 

Sept. 1, 1907, " " 20,466.17 

" 36,583.01 

11 39.040.31 

11 12,816.06 

Jan. 1,1911, " " " 23,884.01 

The Boot and Shoe Workers, the Locomotive Firemen, 
and the Operative Potters report the largest amounts on 
hand. These three unions allow no independent strikes, 
have high dues, and exercise a larger degree of central 
control than do most of the others. On the other hand, 

65 Constitution, 1910, art. x, sec. 4. 

66 The Bakers' Journal, January 14, 1911, p. 66. 



1, 1906, 


it t 


1, 1907, 


11 I 


I, 1908, 


it t 


1, 1909, 


It I 


1, 1910, 


it I 


1, 1911, 


(1 I 



102 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [44O 

the Barbers, the Hotel and Restaurant Workers, and the 
Painters allow a large measure of autonomy to their local 
unions. 

On account of the general tendency among new local 
unions to agitate grievances which may result in strikes 
and exhaust the strike fund, many national unions provide 
for a certain definite length of time before a local union 
may receive strike benefits. A few, like the Blacksmiths 
and the Cutting Die and Cutter Makers, give benefits at 
once, but the general rule is that the local union must be 
affiliated with the national union for from three months 
to one year before benefits can be given. 67 In 1886 the 
Flint Glass Workers provided that the local union must 
be organized six months to receive strike aid, and in the 
following year waited for the expiration of six months 
before submitting one case to a general vote. 68 

Not only must the local union have been organized a 
minimum time, but in a number of national unions indi- 
vidual members must be in good standing at general 
headquarters as to dues and must have been affiliated for a 
certain length of time. 69 In some unions, like the Ma- 
chinists, an elaborate card catalogue of all members is kept 
by the general secretary-treasurer, and no benefits are 
paid unless all obligations have been met. The Stone 
Cutters provided in 1900 that members not in good standing 
at headquarters should forfeit all claims to strike benefits, 

67 The Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta Workers' Alliance, the Coopers, 
and the Rubber Workers require three months; the Bookbinders, the 
Bakers, the Car Workers, the Flint Glass Workers, the Metal Polishers, 
the Operative Potters, the Sheet Metal Workers, and the Teamsters, 
six months, and the Bricklayers and Masons, the Elevator Construc- 
tors, the Photo-Engravers, and the Stone Cutters, one year. The rule 
of the Elevator Constructors excepts strikes called by a central body 
(Proceedings, 1903, p. 30). The Operative Potters allow benefits to a 
local union organized less than six months if the strike is approved by 
a majority vote of the trade (Constitution, 1910, sec. 60). 

68 Proceedings, 1887, p. 19; Constitution, 1886, art. viii, sec. 3. 

69 Such rules are enforced by the Boiler Makers, the Machinists, 
the Plumbers, the Steam Fitters, the Stone Cutters, the Teamsters, 
and the Tile Layers. The Boiler Makers, however, in 1900 repealed 
the rule requiring a striker to be a member six months before receiving 
strike benefits as being both unjust and unfair. All general dues must, 
however, be paid (Proceedings, 1900, p. 255). 



44 1 ] STRIKE BENEFITS 103 

and a general officer wrote in 1903 that the central office 
was the guide as to strike pay, "as there would be no end 
of trouble if we could interpret it any other way." 70 

Benefits are usually paid only to those who have been 
working when the strike is declared. In some unions the 
strike must be a general one. The Bricklayers and Masons 71 
provided in 1903 that no benefits should be paid unless 
seventy-five per cent or more of the membership of a local 
union were engaged in a regularly approved strike. 

The amount of the strike benefit paid varies: 

Number of 
Amount of benefit Unions paying 

$14.00 per week I 



10.00 
8.00 
7.00 
6.00 
5.00 
4-50 
4.00 
3-oo 



3 
2 

15 
13 

22 

1 
1 
4 



The principal railroad brotherhoods pay monthly strike 
benefits, as follows: Locomotive Engineers and Locomotive 
Firemen $40, Conductors $50, and Trainmen $35. 

Several do not pay a flat rate, but have established a 
maximum of $5 or $6 per week, the amount being deter- 
mined by the general executive board according to the 
circumstances and the condition of the treasury. Some 
unions, such as the Carpenters, the Electrical Workers, 
the Glove Workers, the Hotel and Restaurant Workers, 
and the Sheet Metal Workers, do not pay a fixed weekly 
benefit, but send at intervals to the local union on strike 
lump sums to be divided among the strikers. A refer- 
endum vote in the Hotel and Restaurant Workers in 1905 
declared against a fixed strike benefit. 72 The general 

70 Constitution, 1900, art. vii, sec. 12; Stone Cutters' Journal, May, 
1903, p. 2. 

71 Proceedings, 1903, pp. 115, 116. The executive board refused to 
grant forty-four appeals for financial assistance from 1908 to 1910, 
because the facts set forth in the appeals did not make it clear that aid 
from the general office was necessary (Proceedings, 1910, p. 241). 

72 Mixer and Server, September 15, 1905, p. 9. 



104 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [442 

secretary of the Painters, in discussing the subject, doubted 
the wisdom of a fixed benefit in his union because of its 
cost. 73 The Tile Layers, partly on account of lack of 
funds, partly because they believed "that all just demands 
can be enforced without the necessity of striking when 
properly handled," eliminated in 1903 the provision for a 
definite benefit, and provided for financial assistance by 
unanimous vote of the general executive board. The 
general council of the Amalgamated Woodworkers reported 
in 1904 that although $5 per week was the benefit established 
by law, special circumstances compelled them to donate 
only that amount which the condition of the general 
treasury would permit. 74 Other variations from a fixed 
rate are found in the Retail Clerks, who pay in proportion 
to the wages received, and in the Horseshoers, where the 
amount, although paid by the national union, is fixed by 
the local union at the rate established by the local union 
before going out on strike. 

As will be seen from the table on page 103, the amount 
paid in some fifty unions is from $5 to $7 a week. Fifty- 
two unions pay the same rate to both married and single 
men, but twenty pay $2 a week more to married men than 
they do to single men. In some cases $1 a week is paid for 
the wife and 50 cents a week for each non-sustaining child. 
Naturally a man with a family needs a larger benefit, and 
such preferential treatment was accorded by the Phila- 
delphia Cordwainers in 1806 75 and the Knights of St. 
Crispin in 1870. 76 An occasional dissenting voice, how- 
ever, is raised against such preference: "Married men 
and single men should be paid alike. A man's fortune or 
misfortune of having a wife or not having one should not 
be considered." 77 Women, on the other hand, together 
with apprentices, are paid about half the sum paid men in 
the Bookbinders, the Travelers' Goods and Leather Novelty 

73 Painter and Decorator, December, 1909, p. 756. 

74 Proceedings, 1904, p. 16. 

76 Commons and Gilmore, vol. iii, p. 83. 

76 Lescohier, p. 67. 

77 Stone Cutters' Journal, February, 1900, p. II. 



4431 STRIKE BENEFITS 105 

Workers, the Paper Makers, the Machinists, and the 
Photo-Engravers. 

Additions to the stated benefits are made at times. 
The Brewery Workers in 1905 paid an additional $2 a week 
to striking members in the West because it was "impossible 
for any man to exist on $5. per week on the Pacific Coast." 78 
Local unions, also, when able, pay benefits in addition to 
those of the national union. The Flint Glass Workers 
allow striking members working outside of the trade to 
bring their earnings up to $15 per week, including strike 
benefits. On the other hand, the usual custom is to deduct 
from the strike pay all dues that may be in arrears. 

Although some unions pay their striking members bene- 
fits from the beginning of the strike or from the time of 
sanction by the national officers, the rule in twenty-five 
unions is to throw the local union upon its own resources 
for the first week, while some twelve unions pay nothing 
for the first two weeks. In a few others the time is ex- 
tended to three weeks or four weeks or thirty days. But 
discretion is used at times in regard to the time of beginning 
benefits and, as expressed by Secretary Kempner of the 
Brewery Workmen, "common sense" is used and regard 
is had for the condition of members. The Brotherhood of 
Railroad Trainmen during a strike in 1907 paid for the first 
two weeks "on account of the financial condition of the 
men and as a matter of good policy." 79 

The amount of benefits is changed in some unions, as 
the Cigar Makers, the Piano Workers, the Plumbers, and 
the Travelers' Goods and Leather Novelty Workers, after a 
certain time, varying from eight to sixteen weeks, has 
elapsed. A reduction of two dollars a week or more is 
then made, the reduced benefit being paid until the end of 
the strike. 80 The larger number of unions, however, con- 
tinue to pay the same original benefit until the strike is 
either won or declared off, or for a certain definite period 

78 Proceedings, 1906, pp. 100-104. 

79 Proceedings, 1909, p. 3. 

80 This provision was adopted first by the Cigar Makers and has 
been frequently copied (Constitution, 1886, art. vi, sec. 1). 



106 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [444 

which may be extended, or during the discretion of the 
general officers. The setting of a time limit is based not 
only on the idea of conserving the resources of the national 
union, but also on the belief that most strikes are won or 
lost within a few weeks. The tendency, however, is to 
allow the national officers freedom to act according to the 
conditions surrounding a particular strike. By withdraw- 
ing strike benefits the national officers virtually end a 
strike. 81 

The value of a time limit is seen in the experience of the 
Flint Glass Workers, who reported in 1892 that some 
strikers had been carried on the benefit rolls for nearly 
four years. In 1897, on account of the industrial depression 
and numerous strikes, all men carried on strike benefits for 
more than a year were cut off, and in 191 1 a resolution was 
passed that "in no case shall they be carried on the relief 
roll longer than one year unless by a vote of the trade." 82 
The Bricklayers and Masons also financed a struggle for 
the nine-hour day by two local unions in North Carolina in 
1904-1905 for eighty-seven weeks at a cost of $19,464.60 
for benefits. 83 The convention of the national union has 
voted in some cases to extend the time, and the officers in 
the exercise of their discretion usually have power to pro- 
long the payment of benefits. 

Even when a strike is won or called off, benefits are 
usually paid to some members until they find work, and 
more especially to members of advanced age who are 
unable to find employment at the trade after the termina- 

81 The general executive board of the Amalgamated Association of 
Street and Electric Railway Employees in 191 1, after benefits for 
strike had been paid for twenty-five weeks, believed it was time to 
bring the strike to a close and so declared the strike off. But finally 
they allowed the strike to go on with national benefits and permitted 
an appeal for aid to be sent out (Proceedings, 191 1, p. 27). 

82 Proceedings, 1897, p. 17; 1911, p. 181. 

83 Fortieth Annual Report of President and Secretary, 1905, p. 396. 
"These brothers down in Durham," said a commentator, "are too 
dependent, and show no spirit of self-reliance, which is a very bad 
feature, and tends to promote a feeling in neighboring towns to look 
for financial aid" (Forty-first Annual Report of President and Secre- 
tary, 1906, p. 62). 



4451 STRIKE BENEFITS I07 

tion of the strike. 84 In 1910 the Machinists continued the 
benefits to twelve members over sixty years of age for one 
hundred and thirty weeks, each receiving aggregate bene- 
fits of $1009. 85 The Locomotive Engineers in 1904 had 
twenty-two still on the benefit roll from the Burlington 
strike of 1888, and in 191 1 there were sixteen still left. 
The benefits are $25 per month, and have been continued 
in some instances to widows of deceased strikers. From 
two other strikes there were left in 1904 twelve and three 
pensioners, respectively. 86 

In order to systematize payment and to guard against 
fraud many unions provide blank strike pay rolls for the 
strike officials and members to fill out and return to head- 
quarters at stated periods. The Bricklayers and Masons 
at the request of their secretary provided such a form as 
early as 1869, and this form has been copied by other unions. 
Such pay rolls were to be made out in triplicate for the 
secretary of the national union, the secretary of the sub- 
ordinate union, and the paymaster making payments. 
A local union receiving permission to strike was directed 
to elect a receiver, a clerk, and a paymaster. The duty of 
the clerk was to make a monthly statement and at the end 
of the strike a complete account for the secretary of the 
national union and for publication. 87 The form used today 
in some twenty typical unions varies but little. The signa- 
ture of the striker, the number of his union card, the time 
and amount of benefits, countersigned by two officials on 
the ground, are usually required. The Iron Molders pro- 
vide for attestation by the paymaster and the clerk, the 
Bricklayers and Masons by the local financial secretary and 
the special deputy paymaster; but the Carpenters and 
Joiners require only the signature of the chairman of the 
strike committee. A customary usage is to print the rules 

84 The Metal Polishers extended benefits thus by vote of the execu- 
tive board for two members (Our Journal [Metal Polishers], January, 
191 1, p. 24). See also Boot and Shoe Workers' Journal, 1895, p. 43. 

85 Machinists' Monthly Journal, February, 1910, p. 153. 

86 Proceedings, 1904, p. 7. 

87 Proceedings, 1869, pp. 45, 109. 



108 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [446 

governing the payment of strike benefits on the pay roll 
for the guidance of the disbursing officials. 88 Either the 
representative of the national union or an official designated 
by the district committee or by the local committee ordi- 
narily acts as a disburser of the fund. Officers receiving 
and paying strike benefits are sometimes required to give 
a bonded security. Should any intimation of fraud be 
made, benefits are usually suspended pending an investi- 
gation. Receipts are taken for all benefits paid, and the 
return to the general officers of strike rolls properly filled 
out, usually every week, is insisted upon as the condition 
for further strike pay. 

Another form of benefit is that paid for "victimization," 
that is, for cases in which a member is discharged because 
of serving on a grievance committee or being active in any 
way in trade-union matters. The Granite Cutters in 1877 
provided that such members should receive full compensa- 
tion for their loss and be aided in seeking work; but when 
work was found, whether accepted or not, benefits should 
cease. 89 Some unions provide that "victimization" cases 
shall be governed by the same rules as apply to strikes and 

88 The Iron Molders have these rules: 

"Decision 17. No person can be put on strike pay-roll who was 
not at work in the shop when the strike took effect. 

"Decision 18. A member on pay-roll securing work must be taken 
off the rolls. 

" Decision 19. A member on strike who has been taken off the pay- 
roll on account of securing work can only be placed on the rolls again, 
if, after investigation by the President of the I. M. U. of N. A. or his 
deputy, it is found to be for the best interest of the I. M. U. of N. A. 

"Decision 20. A member on strike drawing a card for the purpose 
of looking for work, and failing to find same, may be placed on the rolls 
again from the date of his return, but in so doing the case must be so 
explained when sending pay-roll to the Secretary. 

"Rule 8. The Paymaster and clerk must send to the Secretary of 
the I. M. U. of N. A. on each pay-roll, their affidavit that every name 
on said pay-roll is entitled to benefits according to our laws, and that 
they are actively engaged in said strike or lockout, and are not em- 
ployed at some other occupation. 

"Rule 9. In the event of its being discovered that any local dis- 
bursing officers are found guilty of falsifying the pay-rolls, it shall be 
mandatory for the President of the I. M. U. of N. A. to prosecute 
them." 

89 Constitution, 1877, ar *- xv. 



447] STRIKE BENEFITS 109 

that regular strike benefits shall be paid. 90 In other unions 
aid varies from temporary assistance to a definite sum for a 
short period. 91 

Lockouts, when sanctioned by the national officers, are 
considered strikes and regular strike benefits are paid. A 
lockout, however, may be brought on by the arbitrary 
conduct of the union, and the national officers may have 
power to refuse benefits if the union has been in fault. 
Lockouts, like strikes, are investigated by the national 
officers, and the same rules are followed. "An 'iron clad' 
notice shall not constitute a lockout. Should any employer 
be unscrupulous enough to require employees to sign 
individual contracts, under threat of lockout, members are 
directed to sign them and report the same to their Local 
Executive Board. The Local Executive Board shall report 
the same to the General Executive Board as in strikes." 92 

As a method of relieving the strain on the defense fund, 
several unions, such as the Bakers, the Barbers, the Book- 
binders, the Brewery Workmen, the Broom Makers, the 
Flint Glass Workers, the Machine Printers, the Photo- 
Engravers, the Plate Printers, the Operative Potters, the 
Stogie Makers, the Teamsters, and the Wood Carvers, 
explicitly provide that any member refusing work when it 
is offered during a strike shall be cut off from strike bene- 
fits. The general executive board of the Flint Glass 
Workers, for instance, after the adoption of a sliding scale 
in 1905 in the chimney department, which was accompanied 
by a revival of trade and work, forced the off-hand gatherers 
who had been on strike to go to work as chimney gatherers 
or be cut off the relief roll. Some forty-five members of 
two local unions were struck off the relief roll on account of 
their refusal to accept work. 93 The Barbers in 191 1 thus 

90 The Boiler Makers, the Broom and Whisk Makers, the Iron 
Molders, the Machinists, the Pattern Makers, the Stogie Makers, and 
the Travellers' Goods and Leather Novelty Workers follow this rule. 

91 Proceedings, Boot and Shoe Workers, 1899, p. 37; Cap Makers, 
Constitution [n. d.] f art. x, sec. 14; Tin Plate Workers, Constitution, 
1908, art. ix, sec. 1. 

92 Proceedings, Boot and Shoe Workers, 1899, p. 37. 

93 Proceedings, 1906, p. 32. 



110 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [448 

withdrew aid from members who refused work in a union 
shop at the minimum wage scale. Strikers who have part- 
time work are in some unions debarred from benefits. The 
Carriage and Wagon Workers, the Stove Mounters, and 
the Teamsters count three days' work as a week, while 
the Photo-Engravers and the Plate Printers regard four 
days as a week and deduct a week's benefit. For less than 
four days one fourth is deducted by the Photo-Engravers 
from the week's benefit for each day of work. The Bakery 
and Confectionery Workers allow a member to do jobbing 
for a week without loss of benefits. 94 

After a member has obtained work he cannot receive 
strike benefits again. In some unions a time limit of two 
to four weeks of continuous employment is set, after which 
the striker's name cannot be put back on the strike roll. 
In other unions a striker may be granted benefits again 
after securing work and being laid off, provided it be within 
the time limit for the payment of benefits. The Stove 
Mounters passed such a rule in 1908 because otherwise a 
member on strike would be discouraged from accepting 
employment unless certain as to the permanency of the 
work. 95 

In addition to strike benefits or in lieu of them a local 
union may receive donations from other local unions. 
Appeals for assistance must, however, be sanctioned by the 
national officers, according to the specific rules of some 
twenty-five unions. President Fox of the Iron Molders 
protested in 1902 that all such circulars should be sub- 
mitted to the president before being sent out. To make 
control of the local union more certain all funds donated, 
according to the rules of some unions, must be sent to 
headquarters and from there to the local union in need. 

94 Strike Instructions: "If a striker secures a steady position and 
leaves said position after one week, all strike benefit will cease. When- 
ever a striker refuses to accept a steady position, strike benefit also 
ceases. Jobbing a week is not considered as a steady position. The 
strike benefit official must report every week to the International 
Treasurer whenever a member goes to work, whether he is jobbing 
or has steady work" (Bakers' Journal, May 13, 191 1, p. 3). 

95 Proceedings, 1908, pp. 15, 37. 



449] STRIKE BENEFITS III 

But even when there is no specific rule, voluntary donations 
are usually handled by the general treasurer and acknow- 
ledged in the union's journal. Such central control puts 
the money in charge of one person instead of several, and 
makes possible the immediate withdrawal of the appeal 
when enough has been received or the strike ended. 

An appeal may be allowed when the limit of benefits 
from the national union has been reached, or in case the 
national union pays only a small benefit or no benefits at 
all, or for disputes which are not sanctioned as complying 
sufficiently with the strike rules to be supported by regular 
strike benefits but which nevertheless deserve some support, 
or when the treasury of the national union is low. The 
executive board of the Bricklayers and Masons, for ex- 
ample, in 1904 gave permission to solicit donations to a 
local union out on an unsanctioned strike as a protest 
against the "open shop policy" and the "relentless and 
unscrupulous attitude of the employers." 96 In 1909 three 
circulars were issued by the general officers of the Brick, 
Tile and Terra Cotta Workers' Alliance requesting help for 
one of their local unions similarly situated. The Rubber 
Workers permit voluntary donations to be given a local 
union out on strike before it has been affiliated for the 
three months required for the receipt of strike benefits. 97 

Strike benefits paid over a series of years amount in some 
unions to very large sums. The Flint Glass Workers re- 
ported in 1898 that $1,768,641.93 had been thus paid out 
since their organization in 1878. The Burlington strike 
of 1888, with a few pensioners still on the roll, has cost the 
Locomotive Engineers over a million dollars ($1,008,153.17). 
The Machinists from 1891 to 1910 have paid some 
$2,023,231.19; and in addition to this, district lodges have 
paid benefits in large sums to those not included in the 
membership or to members not in good standing with the 
grand lodge. The Iron Molders have always been an 

96 Thirty-ninth Annual Report of the President and Secretary, 1904, 
P- 474- 

97 Constitution, 1910, art. xiii, sec. 4; 1903, art. x, sec. I. 



112 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [45O 

aggressive and militant organization, and during the period 
from i860 to 1875 spent the following amounts: 

i860 $ 5,511.60 

1861 1,115.00 

1863 10,329.89 

1864 3,000.00 

1865 3,300.00 

1866 25,000.00 

1867-68 9,500.00 

1868-9-70 5.350.00 

1870-1-2 32,209.78 

1872-3-4 20,788.82 

1874-5 8,622.46 

or nearly $125,000, during the fifteen years. 98 After 1884 
the benefits gradually increased in amount, as is shown in 
the following table: 

Average 
Period Length of Period Cost Yearly Cost 

1884-86 2 years $ 28,800.40 $ 14,400.20 

1886-88 2 years 33,883.54 16,941.77 

1888-90 2 years 67,964.32 33,982.16 

1890-95 5 years 209,907.52 41,981.10 

1895-99 4 years 175,870.20 43,967-55 

1899-02 3 years 327,961.68 109,320.56 

1902-07 5 years 1,477,009.46 295,401.89 

1907-11 4 years 1,009,322.15 252,330.54 

The total cost for the twenty-seven years since 1884 has 
been $3,338,202.76. The increased expenditures, especially 
since 1890, are attributable to actual payments of strike 
benefits (for previously benefits had frequently been un- 
paid), the centralization of control which has thrown the 
entire cost on the national union, and the growing opposi- 
tion of manufacturers to unionism in general and the Iron 
Molders in particular. The opposition of the National 
Founders' Association in 1900 and in 1904 increased greatly 
the cost of strikes. 

The United Mine Workers report the following strike 

benefits as paid from 1900 to 1910: 

1900 $ 144,462.50 

1901 202,202.71 

1902 1,834,506.53 

98 Counting the average membership at five thousand per year, says 
one commentator, "the strikes cost less than two dollars per year" 
(Iron Molders' Journal, September 10, 1875, p. 424). 



45l] STRIKE BENEFITS 113 

1903 301,922.44 

1904 1,065,435.47 

1905 753,626.02 

1906 805,590.92 

1907 105,045.57 

1908 744,897.19 

1909 600,267.39 

1910 1,532,020.42 

$8,089,986.16 

Most of the money is said to have been spent in localities 
where there was the least organization. Strikes as a means 
of organization are declared to be too expensive. "The 
enormous waste of money," said President Lewis, "and 
the tremendous waste of energy incident to a strike should 
be avoided. Our right to strike must never be surrendered, 
but as the strike is an industrial war measure it should be 
the last method resorted to in our effort to enforce any 
demands that we present to the mine owners." 99 

The Bakery and Confectionery Workers have had num- 
erous small strikes, and make the following report of bene- 
fits paid since the inauguration of the strike fund in 1904: 100 

Oct. 1, 1904, to Oct. i, 1905, 1 year $ 14,355-30 

11 I, 1905, " Sept. 1, 1906, 11 months 26,175.50 

Sept. 1, 1906, " " 1, 1907, 1 year 10,974.00 

11 1,1907," " 1, 1908, 1 year 7,895.00 

" 1,1908," " 1, 1909, 1 year 14,553.00 

" 1,1909," " 1, 1910, 1 year 66,845.00 

" 1, 1910, " Jan. 1, 191 1, 4 months 1,053.00 

Total Benefits Paid $141,850.80 

The expenditures of the Coopers for strike benefits from 
1900 to 1 910 were as follows: 

Average 
Period Length of Period Cost Yearly Cost 

1900-02 2 years $ 4.793-10 $2,396.55 

1902-04 2 years 8,487.57 4.243-78 

1904-06 2 years 13,230.05 6,615.02 

1906-08 2 years 3.373-10 1,686.50 

1908-10 2 years 4.550-50 2,275.25 

The higher cost in 1904-06 was not due to an increase 
in the number of strikes or strikers, but because strikes were 

99 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 50. 

100 Bakers' Journal, January 14, 191 1, p. 66. 
8 



114 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [452 

better financed than before. The next four years show the 
result of larger control of strikes by the general executive 
board. 101 

The Cigar Makers have paid out the following sums since 
the inauguration of a strike fund in 1879: 



Year 


Strike Benefit 


Cost per member [ 


*i879 


$ 3,668.23 


$ I.34 4 /io 


1880 


4,950.36 


I.IlVio 


ti88i 


21,797.68 


149V10 


J1882 


44,850.41 


3-92 3 Ao 


1883 


27,812.13 


2.IO 3 / 10 


1884 


143,547.36 


I2.62 3 /l0 


1885 


61,087.28 


5-09 


1886 


54,402.61 


2.20 


1887 


13,871.62 


6.74 


1888 


45,303-62 


2.66 4 /lO 


1889 


5,202.52 


.29 6 /io 


§1890 


18,414.27 


•74 7 /io 


1891 


33,53L78 


I.38V10 


1892 


37,477.60 


I.40V10 


1893 


18,228.15 


.68 


1894 


44,966.76 


i.6i 5 /io 


1895 


44,039.06 


I.58 6 /ia 


1896 


27,446.46 


1.00V10 


^Ii897 


12,175.09 


.46 


1898 


25,H8.59 


.94 2 /io 


1899 


12,331.63 


.42 


1900 


137,823.23 


3-987io 


1901 


105,215.71 


3.02 


1902 


85,274.14 


2.23V10 


1903 


20,858.15 


•5i7io 


1904 


32,888.88 


.76% 


1905 


9,820.83 


•237io 


1906 


44,735-43 


i.ioVio 


1907 


22,644.68 


.527m 


1908 


32,423.39 


•777io 


1909 


i9,999-58 


•437io 


1910 


221,044.70 


4-90 2 /io 



* Weekly dues 10 cents, f 15 cents, J 20 cents, § 25 cents, ^ 30 cents. 

The total cost of strikes from 1879 to 1910 was $1,432,- 
95 I -93- 102 The largest cost per member occurred in 1884 

101 Coopers' International Journal, October, 1910, p. 561; November, 
1906, p. 10. 

102 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, April 15, 191 1, p. II. 



4531 STRIKE BENEFITS 115 

on account of a disastrous strike in Cincinnati entered into 
against the protests of the general officers, and amounted 
to $12.62^. The strike committee reported at the 1885 
convention against such large expenditures, and said: 
"It is neither wise nor practical to at all times strike, 
even against a reduction in wages." The rules in regard 
to strikes were at that time revised and made more 
rigid. 103 

103 Proceedings, 1885, p. 23. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Termination of Strikes 

The development of the power to end a strike has been 
much the same as that of the power to initiate a strike. 
From the nature of the case, however, the rules are less 
rigidly enforced, especially if a favorable settlement can 
be made. 

Many strikes have no official end because the men gradu- 
ally get work elsewhere. A strike of the Horseshoers in 
New York City, for instance, was declared eight years ago 
and has never been called off. Such a strike, of course, 
has no real existence. A strike may be ended (i) by a vote 
of the local union or local unions involved, (2) by action 
of the representative or agent of the general union, (3) by 
the general executive board of the national union, (4) by a 
general vote, or (5) by a convention of the national union. 

(1) The vote by the local union or local unions is found 
in those trades where the local union has the right to 
strike on its own initiative. In those unions where there 
is a large measure of control by the national officers, the 
vote of the local union becomes effective only with the 
consent of the national officers. The usual rule is that a 
regular or special meeting of the local union must be held 
and the terms of settlement submitted to a vote. Some 
national unions require the same vote for concluding as 
for initiating a strike; others require only a majority vote. 
The vote of a local union in favor of ending a strike is not 
always sanctioned by the national officers. In 1908 the 
officers of the Stove Mounters declared in regard to a strike 
called off by one of their local unions: "The International 
Executive Board has never sanctioned the calling off of 
this strike, because the Mounters who secured employ- 

116 



455] THE TERMINATION OF STRIKES 117 

merit were forced to sign an individual contract and work 
with helpers." 1 

(2) The representative or agent of the national union, 
as has been noted, is sent to the scene of the trouble as 
soon as a dispute arises, and he usually remains until the 
strike has been settled. The power of the general agent 
in the termination of strikes appears to have grown out of 
the practice of local unions in sending for their general 
president when in trouble. Grand Chief Arthur of the 
Locomotive Engineers brought about a settlement of several 
strikes by personal efforts and conferences with railroad 
officials, and today, although the matter is usually put to 
a vote, the general officers of this brotherhood may termi- 
nate a strike. 2 The same is true of the grand master of the 
Locomotive Firemen, with the consent of a majority of the 
members of the executive board. 3 The president of the 
Conductors, together with the general committee of adjust- 
ment, has similar powers. 4 President W. J. Smith of the 
Flint Glass Workers in 1887 in conjunction with a com- 
mittee of the local union brought to an end a strike that had 
been going on for a year. 5 The presidents of the Boiler 
Makers, the Stone Cutters, and other unions intervene in 
like manner when the necessity arises. 

On account of a disastrous strike in 1 884-1 885, the Cigar 
Makers adopted the device of arbitration and the sending 
of agents to the scene of any strike. In 1906 the national 
union sent two representatives to adjust a dispute. The 
local union did not desire the presence of these two officials, 
Ex-President Strasser and W. S. Best, who finally reached 
an agreement with the manufacturers and brought the 
strike to an end. The local union had the right to an appeal 
to a general vote against the action of the general repre- 

1 Proceedings, 1908, p. 8. 

2 Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, May, 1875, p. 255; 
January, 1877, p. 29; February, 1877, pp. 65-71. 

1 Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, November, 1894, P- I0 79- This 
in case two thirds of the members refuse to declare a strike off. 

4 Constitution, 1909, sec. 74. A strike on the Erie Railroad in 1891 
was settled by Grand Chief Conductor Clark and the national officers 
(Railway Conductor, February 15, 1891, p. 127). 

6 Proceedings, 1887, P- 29. 



1 1 8 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [456 

sentatives. but contented itself by protesting in the columns 
of the official organ. Agent Strasser said: "The duty of 
the arbitrators and agent is to represent the interests of 
the International Union, regardless of the local instructions 
of the strike committee. It is also their duty to bring about 
an amicable and honorable adjustment of the trouble as 
speedily as possible, thus saving the funds of the Inter- 
national Union, which would be otherwise wasted; and to 
maintain the honor and reputation of the International 
Union for fair dealing with union manufacturers.'" 6 The 
decision of the representatives of the national union to 
terminate a strike in Xew Haven was approved by the 
executive board and then by a general vote. 7 In 1892 the 
executive board of the Bricklayers and Masons was author- 
ized to send a deputy to the scene of any strike to investi- 
gate and report as to prospects of success, and if these 
reports were unfavorable the board was to declare the 
strike off. 8 Such procedure is a common practice in most 
unions, and in most cases the general representative acts 
in conjunction with the local officials. A common rule is 
that final settlements must be made in the presence of the 
local committee. 9 

The duties of a representative in the Stone Cutters' 
Union is defined thus: "He shall immediately proceed to 
the headquarters of said Branch where strike or lockout 
exists and give them assistance within his power to settle 
said strike or lockout, final decision to be given by the 
Executive Board." 10 A good deal of authority is given 
to the general representative. His decisions are binding 
in some unions and subject to approval of the executive 
board or a general vote in others. 

W nen a number of national unions are involved in a 
strike, a settlement is usually brought about by the officials 

6 Cigar Makers' Official Journal, September 15, 1906, p. 3. 

7 Ibid., February 15, 1909, p. 8. This same procedure is followed 
by the Plumbers and the Tobacco Workers. 

8 Proceedings, 1892, p. 96. 

* Stove Mounters, Proceedings, 1901, p. 12; Paper Makers, Consti- 
tution, 1912, art. vi, sec. 2. 
10 Proceedings, 1904, p. 33. 



457] THE TERMINATION OF STRIKES II9 

of the various unions. In the settlement of a general 
strike in the shops of the Missouri Pacific Railway system 
in 19 10, terms of settlement were signed by the national 
officers of the Machinists, the Boiler Makers, the Black- 
smiths, and the Sheet Metal Workers. 11 A general strike 
by the employees of the International Paper Company in 
1910 was terminated by an agreement signed by the officers 
of the company and by representatives of the Paper 
Makers, the Pulp Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, the 
Machinists, the Steam Fitters, the Steam Engineers, the 
Electrical Workers, a general organizer of the American 
Federation of Labor, and the chairman of the Bureau of 
Mediation and Arbitration of the State of New York. 12 

(3) The representative or agent is usually sent by the 
general executive board of the national union, and in that 
board the supreme executive authority of the union is 
vested. As previously stated, the board is made up of the 
national officers, including the president, and, in some 
unions, of additional representatives from the general 
membership. The tendency is toward a larger measure of 
control by this body in termination of strikes. The Iron 
Molders saw the necessity of some central control in 
bringing unsuccessful strikes to a close, and in 1874 vested 
such power in the president and four vice-presidents. 13 
Two strikes were settled by these officers during 1 874-1 876. 
The president in his report in 1876 said that "he had no 
extraordinary power as he must consult with and abide 
by the wishes of the four vice-presidents." A provision 
for two weeks' notice to the local union on strike was added 
to the rules at this convention, and in 1878 the power was 
transferred to the president and the executive board. 14 

In some unions action to stop a strike has been taken by 
the national officers on their own responsibility because con- 
ditions rendered it necessary to terminate the strike. For 

11 Machinists' Monthly Journal, February, 191 1, pp. 113, 160. 

12 Report of the New York State Department of Labor, 19 10, pp. 
474-480. 

13 Iron Molders* Journal, August, 1874, p. 4. 

14 Proceedings, 1876, pp. 7, 82. , 



120 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [458 

example, the officials of the Flint Glass Workers called off 
a strike in 1886 and declared strike benefits at an end. 
The strikers protested against this action; but similar 
decisions were quoted as precedents, and as these pre- 
cedents had passed unquestioned by any convention a 
warrant for them was thus given. The result was that 
authority to terminate strikes was given to the executive 
board. 15 The Locomotive Firemen provide that in case 
two thirds of the members on a division or system refuse to 
declare a strike off, it can be ended by the grand master 
together with a majority vote of the general executive 
board. In case the president and the general committee 
of adjustment of the Conductors cannot agree, the board 
of trustees of that union, after a strike has been in force 
ten days, can decide, and their decision is final. 16 A num- 
ber of unions, like the Barbers, the Boot and Shoe Workers, 
the Box Makers, the Bricklayers and Masons, the Bridge 
and Structural Iron Workers, the Cutting Die and Cutter 
Makers, the Freight Handlers, the Lace Curtain Operatives, 
the Metal Polishers, the Pattern Makers, the Iron, Tin 
and Steel Workers, the Retail Clerks, the Stogie Makers, 
the Stone Cutters, the Tile Layers, the Tin Plate Workers, 
the Powder Workers, and the Woodworkers, give their 
executive boards definite power to end a strike. In some 
unions a strike by a local union may be appealed directly 
to the national union by the firm or company against which 
the strike is called. In the case of a firm in Denver whose 
bricklayers refused to handle material made by a certain 
manufacturer, the executive board of the Bricklayers and 
Masons ordered the strike off. 17 

The real power of the general executive board is found 
in its control of strike benefits. If there are no strike 
benefits, the local union on strike can accept or reject the 
advice of the executive board. The development of this 
control has been traced in previous chapters. Where 

15 Proceedings, 1887, pp. 30, 80. 

16 Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, November, 1894, p. 1079; 
Proceedings, 1897, p. 10; Constitution, 1909, sec. 74. 

17 Forty-third Annual Report, 1908, p. 26. 



459] THE TERMINATION OF STRIKES 121 

strike benefits are paid, a strike may be practically ended 
by the withdrawal of strike benefits. Some national 
unions, such as, for example, the Amalgamated Glass 
Workers, the Boiler Makers, the Broom Makers, the Cap 
Makers, the Carpenters and Joiners, the International 
Seamen, the Iron Molders, the Ladies' Garment Workers, 
the Painters, the Teamsters, the Tile Layers, and the 
Wood Carvers, give their presidents and general executive 
boards discretionary power to declare a strike at an end 
so far as financial aid from the general union is concerned. 
Local unions may continue the struggle on their own 
financial responsibility, but such action virtually ends a 
strike. In the same way, in 191 1, the general executive 
board of the Coopers discontinued paying benefits to a 
local union, believing that the general organization had 
done its duty to the local union. 18 A number of unions 
also set a definite time limit for the payment of benefits, 
and as a rule this limit, unless extended, automatically 
ends a strike. 

(4) A general vote of all local unions is required in a 
number of general unions before a strike can be terminated. 
A general vote of the division or railroad system to which 
the men belong is taken in the railroad brotherhoods like 
the Locomotive Engineers, the Locomotive Firemen, the 
Conductors, and the Trainmen on the acceptance of the 
terms of settlement. The Flint Glass Workers, the Lake 
Seamen, the Operative Potters, and some other unions 
require a vote of all members before a strike can be termi- 
nated. A strike continues indefinitely with the Flint 
Glass Workers until so ended, but benefits lapse at the end 
of a year unless continued by a general vote. 19 A special 
convention may be called to consider the termination of a 
strike. The Commercial Telegraphers in 1907 called a 
special convention which appointed a "Peace Committee" 
to adjust the strike, but finally the question was submitted 
to a vote of all the local unions and carried. 20 A very 

18 Coopers' International Journal, April, 1911, p. 239. 

19 Proceedings, 1911, pp. 34, 181. 

20 Commercial Telegraphers' Journal, November, 1907, pp. n, 40, 42. 



122 CONTROL OF STRIKES IN AMERICAN TRADE UNIONS [46O 

common usage is that of the United Mine Workers in sub- 
mitting terms of settlement to a general vote. The Ohio 
local unions embracing District No. 6 held a convention in 
1895 and took up the question of agreement with the 
operators, and then submitted the same to a referendum 
vote of the miners of Ohio. The vote was 5091 in favor 
and 4351 against. 21 In 1910 the demands of the operators 
were submitted to the members in Illinois by the executive 
board and refused by a vote of 45,190 to 1435, and the end 
of the strike came through the operators acceding to the 
demands of the United Mine Workers. 22 In some unions, 
after a strike has lasted a definite period, as for twenty 
weeks with the Piano Workers, 23 a referendum vote is 
necessary to continue it longer. The decision of the na- 
tional deputy in favor of terminating a strike, if not agree- 
able to the local union, is submitted to a general vote by 
the Box Makers, the Cigar Makers, the Plumbers, and the 
Tobacco Workers, and if so approved, becomes binding. 

(5) The termination of a strike by a convention of the 
national union or of the district unions occurs frequently 
because sovereignty in the national union is usually found 
in the convention. Some unions, however, submit all rules 
or changes made to a referendum vote. The convention 
of the Iron Molders, for instance, in 1876 discontinued 
strikes in five places. After the president and other 
officers of the Chain Makers had had many conferences 
and a referendum vote for a settlement was lost, a con- 
vention in 1908 declared off a strike which had lasted for 
three years. 24 In 1904 on the occasion of a strike in West 
Virginia a special convention of the United Mine Workers 
of the New River District was called by the authority of 
the general officers. The whole situation was explained 
to the delegates at the convention, and by a large majority 
the convention declared the strike at an end. 25 Likewise 

21 United Mine Workers' Journal, June 6, 1895, p. 1; June 13, 1895, 
p. 1. 

22 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 73. 

23 Constitution, 1906, art. vi, sec. I, 

24 Proceedings, 1908, p. 80. 
26 Proceedings, 1904, p. 42. 



461] THE TERMINATION OF STRIKES 1 23 

in 1 901 a proposition for strike settlement by several 
anthracite coal operators was considered at the Scranton 
Convention and accepted. A proclamation declaring the 
strike officially ended was issued after being signed by the 
national executive board and the presidents and secretaries 
of districts nos. I, 7, and 9. 

The local union or unions involved in a strike are bound 
to accept the terms of a settlement brought about by duly 
constituted authority. The Metal Polishers follow the 
general usage in declaring that "any local union accepting 
a settlement contrary to the decision of all local unions or 
the National Executive Board shall be expelled by the 
International Union upon presentation of sufficient evi- 
dence of guilt." 26 Not only may such action be penalized 
by revocation of charter, but individual members may be 
suspended if they refuse to obey the instructions of the 
general officers to return to work in such unions as the 
Blacksmiths, the Brush Makers, the Iron Molders, and the 
Printing Pressmen. The places of the strikers may even 
be filled and the strike thus terminated. Usually, how- 
ever, such action is not necessary, as the simple withdrawal 
of strike benefits compels acceptance on the part of even 
recalcitrant local unions. 

26 Proceedings, 191 1, p. 178. 



INDEX 



Actors' International Union, 26, 
81. 

Affiliation, length of period of, 
38, 102 (note). 

American and Examiner (Chi- 
cago), strike on, 67. 

American Federation of Labor, 
representation of, in strike, 
119. 

American Newspaper Publish- 
ers' Association, 36, 66. 

American Railway Union, 58, 61. 

Amnesty, during strikes, 83. 

Appeal, right of, 44, ill, 117. 

Arbitration, agreements for, 31, 
33, 35; use of, 54, 1*7- 

Arthur, P. M., 20, 34, 46, 57, 59, 
117. 

Assessments, strike, 98 (note). 

Automobiles, use of, during 
strike, 86. 

Autonomy, local, 11, 71. 

Bakery and Confectionery 
Workers' International Union, 
32, 38, 42; strike management 
of, 74, 78, 82, 84; strike bene- 
fits of, 99, 101, 109, no, 113. 

Baltimore Cigar Makers, 80. 

Barbers' International Union, 
Journeymen, 32, 38, 49 ; deputy 
of, 74 ; strike assessment of, 97 
(note) ; strike benefits of, 09, 
101, 109; strike termination in, 
120. 

Barnett, G. E., 13, 55, 77, 79, 94. 

Barrett, grand master of Switch- 
men's Mutual Aid Association, 
59- 

Beer agency during strike, 87. 

Benefits, strike, amounts paid in, 
111-115. 

Benevolent and Protective Spin- 
ners' Association of New Eng- 
land, 29. 

Best, W. S., 117. 



Bill Posters and Billers of Amer- 
ica, International Alliance of, 
50. 

Blacksmiths, International 
Brotherhood of, 44, 46, 48, 
75 ; strike benefits, 99, 102 ; 
strike termination in, 119, 123. 

Blast Furnace Workers and 
Smelters, National Associa- 
tion of, 49, 71. 

Boiler Makers and Iron Ship- 
builders, Brotherhood of, 43, 
62; strike notices in, 77; re- 
instatement in, 81 ; strike ben- 
efits of, 97 (note), 99; strike 
termination in, 119, 121. 

Bookbinders, International 
Brotherhood of, 41, 42, 44, 55, 
64, 78, 82, 99, 104, 109. 

Boot and Shoe Workers' Un- 
ion, 33, 55; illegal strike of, 
64, 68; centralization in, 70; 
strike benefits of, 99, 101 ; ex- 
ecutive board of, 120. 

Bowen, president of Bricklay- 
ers and Masons, 27. 

Box Makers and Sawyers, 
United Order of, 19; fines in, 
64; strike termination in, 120, 
122. 

Boycott, 85. 

Brewery Workmen, Interna- 
tional Union of the United, 
arbitration in, 32; affiliation 
period of, 38; strike vote in, 
41, 42; independent strikes of, 
50, 55; beer agency of, 87 
(and note) ; strike benefits of, 
96, 99, 100, 105, 109. 

Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta 
Workers' Alliance, Interna- 
tional, district council of, 72; 
strike benefits of, 99, in. 

Bricklayers and Masons' Inter- 
national Union, strike control 
of, 15; strike vote of, 16, 17; 

25 



126 



INDEX 



[464 



deputy of, 20, 23, 27, 118; ar- 
bitration in, 31 ; time affilia- 
tion provision of, 39; seasonal 
strikes of, 44; strike limita- 
tions of, 47; independent 
strikes of, 50, 69; strike man- 
agement of, 77, 87; strike 
benefits of, 89, 91, 95, 97, 99, 
103, 106, 107, in; executive 
power of, 120. 

Bridge and Structural Iron 
Workers, International Asso- 
ciation of, 98 (note), 99, 101, 
120. 

Broom and Whiskmakers' Un- 
ion, International, 42; inde- 
pendent strike of district 
union of, 51 ; fines of, 81 ; 
strike benefits of, 99, 109, 121. 

Brush Makers' International 
Union, 41, 81, 123. 

Buffalo Tailors, 79. 

Building Trades' Strike, 50. 

Bureau of Mediation and Arbi- 
tration of the State of New- 
York, 119. 

Burlington Strike, 83, in. 

Cannon, president of Cigar 
Makers, 30. 

Car Workers, International As- 
sociation of, 24, 73, 99. 

Carpenters and Joiners, United 
Brotherhood of, deputy of, 
23; arbitration provision of, 
32; limitations of number of 
strikes of, 47; independent 
strikes of, 54; district council 
of, 72 ; fines of, 81 ; picketing 
during strikes, 84; strike ben- 
efits of, 99, 103, 107, 121. 

Carr, president of Bricklayers 
and Masons, 91. 

Carriage and Wagon Workers' 
International Union, 23 ; limi- 
tation of strikes of, 48; sym- 
pathetic strikes of, 62; strike 
benefits of, 99, no. 

Cement Workers, Brotherhood 
of, 30, 39, 78, 99 .( note ). 

Chain Makers' National Union, 
79 ; strike benefits of, 95, 99, 
100; convention of, 122. 

Charter, suspension of, 65, 68, 
69. 

Chicago Glove Workers, 33 
(note). 



Chicago Railroad Strike, 46. 

Cigar Makers' International 
Union, strike control of, 17, 
18; deputy of, 22, 73, 117; ar- 
bitration in, 30; seasonal 
strikes of, 44, 48; independent 
strikes of, 51, 69, 70; joint 
committee of, 72; strike re- 
ports of, 76, 77; strike man- 
agement of, 78, 82, 85; com- 
missary of, 86; strike benefits 
of, 89, 90, 92, 96, 99, 105 ; ref- 
erendum in, 122. 

Clark, E. E., 57, 117 (note). 

Cloak, Suit and Manufacturers' 
Protective Association, 34. 

Cloth Hat and Cap Makers, 
United, 50; strike benefits of, 
95, 99, 121. 

Cloth Weavers' Union, 50. 

Coal Hoisting Engineers' Un- 
ion, 36. 

Commercial Telegraphers' Un- 
ion of America, 49, 99, 121. 

Commissary department in 
strikes, 86. 

Commons, J. R., 12. 

Composition Roofers, Damp and 
Waterproof Workers, Inter- 
national Brotherhood of, 49, 
71. 

Compressed Air and Founda- 
tion Workers' Union, 51. 

Cooperative contract, 87. 

Coopers' International Union, 
36, 39, 41, 44, 51, 81; strike 
benefits of, 99, 113, 121. 

Cutting Die and Cutter Makers, 
Union of, 51 ; strike benefits 
of, 99, 100, 102; executive 
board of, 120. 

Daly, president of Metal Polish- 
ers, 83. 

Debs, Eugene V., 59, 60. 

Deputy, national, 25, 73, 74, 118. 

Dillon, secretary of Flint Glass 
Workers, 94 

District councils, 41, 43, 72, Q7, 
122. 

Duffy, T. J., 36 (note). 

Duncan, James, 22. 

Dunn, president of Boiler Mak- 
ers, 43. 

Elastic Goring Weavers' Asso- 
ciation, 51. 



465] 



INDEX 



127 



Electrical Workers of America, 
International Brotherhood of, 
49, 103, 119. 

Elevator Constructors, Interna- 
tional Union of, 51 ; strike 
benefits of, 96, 99, 100. 

Erdman Act, 35. 

Faulkner, Alexander, 20. 

Fitzpatrick, president of Iron 
Molders, 93. 

Flint Glass Workers' Union, 
American, 19, 35, 52; strike 
management of, 77, 83 ; strike 
benefits of, 93, 96, 98, 101, 102, 
105,106,109,111; strike termi- 
nation in, 117, 120, 121. 

Fox, Martin, 25, 53, no. 

Franklin Typographical Society, 
76. 

Freight Handlers, Brotherhood 
of Railroad, 78, 120. 

Frost, president of Bricklayers 
and Masons, 91. 

Garretson, president of Railway 
Conductors, 27. 

Gaul, president of Bricklayers 
and Masons, 16, 91. 

General executive boards, 120- 
122. 

General Trade Union of New 
York, 88. 

Glass Bottle Blowers' Associa- 
tion, 35. m 

Glass Workers' International 
Association, Amalgamated, 35, 
121. 

Glove Workers' Union, Interna- 
tional, agreements of, 33 (and 
note) ; independent strike of, 
51 ; strike benefits of, 103. 

Granite Cutters' International 
Association, deputy of, 22; 
arbitration in, 30, 32; strike 
requirements of, 40, 61 ; strike 
management of, 71, 80, 85; 
strike benefits of, 99, 100, 108. 

Hatters, United, 51, 99. 

Hod Carriers and Building La- 
borers' Union, International, 
49; deputy of, 71 (note). 

Horseshoers' International Un- 
ion, Journeymen, 32 ; cards of, 
78; strike termination in, 116. 



Hotel and Restaurant Employ- 
ees' International Alliance and 
Bartenders' International 
League, deputy of, 23; arbi- 
tration in, 32; strike benefits 
of, 09, 101, 103; strike rules 
of, 38, 50, 5i. 

Howard, G. W., 59. 

Illinois Coal Operators' Asso- 
ciation, 37. 

Industrial Congress, 29. 

Industrial Workers of the 
World, 99. 

International Paper Company 
Strike, 119. 

Iron Molders. See Molders' 
Union, International. 

Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, 
National Amalgamated Asso- 
ciation of, district council of, 
43; strike control of, 51, 55; 
strike benefits of, 96, 99, 101 ; 
executive power of, 120. 

Joint strike committee, 72. 
Journeymen Tailors' Strikes, 84. 

Kellogg, H. N., 66. 

Kempner, Louis, 105. 

Kline, president of Blacksmiths, 

63. 
Knights of St. Crispin, 61 ; strike 

benefits of, 92, 104. 

Lace Curtain Operatives, Amal- 
gamated, 120. 

Ladies' Garment Workers' Un- 
ion, International, protocol of, 
34 ; independent strikes of, 50 ; 
strike benefits of, 121. 

Lake Seamen's Union, 121. 

Lasters' Protective Association, 
30. 

Lescohier, D. C, 92 (note), 104 
(note). 

Lockouts, 109. 

Locomotive Engineers, Brother- 
hood of, deputy of, 21, 24, 73; 
agreements in, 21, 34; inde- 
pendent strikes of, 52, 55, 56, 
59, 60, 62, 64, 69; strike con- 
trol of, 70; strike management 
of, 73, 81, 82, 83; strike bene- 
fits of, 99, 100, 103, 107, in; 
general vote of, 121. 



128 



INDEX 



[ 4 66 



Locomotive Firemen and En- 
ginemen, Brotherhood of, dep- 
uty of, 24, 73, 117; arbitra- 
tion in, 35 ; independent strikes 
of, 52, 55, 56, 58 (and note), 
60; strike benefits of, 99, 101, 
103 ; executive power of, 120 ; 
general vote of, 121. 

Longshoremen's Association, In- 
ternational, 37. 

Lynch, president of Typograph- 
ical Union, 66. 

McDonald machine men, 68. 

Machine Coopers' Employers' 
Association. 36. 

Machine Printers and Color 
Mixers' Association. See Wall 
Paper Machine Printers and 
Color Mixers' Association. 

Machinists, International Asso- 
ciation of, agreements in, 32; 
district lodges of, 43; strike 
control of,^ 51 ; strike notices 
of, 77; strike benefits of, 102, 
107, in; executive power of, 
119. 

McNeill, G. E., 30 (note). 

McNeill, John, 43. 

Maintenance of Way Employ- 
ees, International Brother- 
hood of, 51, 58. 

Meat Cutters and Butcher 
Workmen, Amalgamated, 51. 

Menger. president of Operative 
Potters, 25. 

Metal Polishers' International 
Union, deputy of, 41 ; strike 
control in, 51. 62; strike bene- 
fits of, 64, 87, 96, 99; strike 
termination in, 120, 123. 

Mine Workers. United, district 
agreements of. 36 ; district con- 
trol in. 43 ; independent strikes 
of, 52, 55, 68: deputy power 
of, 85 ; strike benefits of, 98, 
99, 100, 112; general vote of, 
122. 

Missouri Pacific Railway Strike, 
119. 

Mitchell. John. 36 (note). 

Molders' Union, International, 
strike control of, 13-15; dep- 
uty of, 20, 23, 123; arbitration 
in, 30. 35 ; agreements in, 35 ; 
limitation of strikes in, 48; 



independent strikes of, 52, 62, 
69, 70; strike management of, 
77, 80, 81; strike benefits of, 
89, 93, 96, 99, 107, 108 (note), 
no, in; executive control of, 
119, 121, 123; convention con- 
trol of, 122. 

National Association of the 
Granite Industry of the 
United States, 37. 

National executive board, 123. 

National Founders' Association, 

35; 

National Labor Congress, 29. 

National Manufacturers' Asso- 
ciation, 95. 

New Haven Strike, 65. 

New _ York General Trades' 
Union, 11. 

New York Interurban Strike, 65. 

New York S_ociety of Printers, 
88. 

New York Subway Strike, 66. 

O'Dea, secretary of Bricklayers, 

39- 

Ohio Valley Stone Contractors 
Association, 35. 

O'Keefe, president of Bricklay- 
ers, 16. 

Painters, Decorators and Pa- 
perhangers, Brotherhood of, 
40, 78; sympathetic strikes of, 
61 ; deputy of, 74; strike bene- 
fits of, 97, 99, 101, 104 121. 

Paper Makers, International 
Brotherhood of. 52, 119 ; strike 
management of, 81, 85 ; strike 
benefits of, 105. 

Pattern Makers' League, 99; 
discipline of, 69, 81 ; power to 
end strike, 120. 

Pavers, Rammers, Flaggers, 
Bridge and Stone Curb Set- 
ters, "international Union of, 
32, 52. 

Paving Cutters' # Union, 52, 81 ; 
emergency strike of. 44. 

Penn Art Metal Company, 87. 

Perkins. G. W.. 18 (and note). 

Philadelphia Cordwainers, 84, 
88. 104. 

Philadelphia General Trades' 
Union, II, 46. 



467] 



INDEX 



129 



Philadelphia Journeymen Tail- 
ors, 80. 

Philadelphia Typographical So- 
ciety, 76. 

Photo-Engravers, International 
Union of, agreements in, 36; 
independent strikes of, 52, 55, 
64, 67; strike management in, 
81 ; portable outfit of, 87 ; 
strike benefits of, 09, 109, no. 

Piano and Organ Workers' In- 
ternational Union, 19, 31, 105; 
district union of, 43; seasonal 
strikes of, 45, 48; referendum 
in, 122. 

Picketing, 83-85. 

Pittsburgh Cordwainers, 79, 88. 

Plasterers, Brotherhood of 
Operative, 40, 78; strike bene- 
fits of, 97, 99, 100. 

Plate Printers' Union, Interna- 
tional Steel and Copper, 41, 
82; strike benefits of, 64, 99, 
109, no. 

Plumbers, Gas, and Steam Fit- 
ters, United Association of, 
strike sanction of, 48; strikes 
against unfair employers, 85; 
strike benefits of, 105; general 
vote of, 122. 

Potters, National Brotherhood 
of Operative, agreements in, 
36; general vote of, 19, 121; 
independent strikes of, 52, 55, 
64; strike notice in, 77; strike 
benefits of, 94, 96, 99, 101, 109. 

Powder Workers, United, 52, 
no. 

Print Cutters' Association, Na- 
tional, 49, 71. 

Printers. See Typographical Un- 
ion. 

Printing Pressmen and Assist- 
ants' Union, agreements in, 
36; independent strikes of, 52, 
55 ; executive power of, 123. 

Pullman Strike, 58. 

Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill 
Workers, 52, 119. 

Quarry Workers, International 
Union of, 52. 

Railroad Brakemen, Brother- 
hood of, 58. 

Railroad Expressmen, Order of, 
52. 



Railroad Telegraphers, Order 
of, arbitration in, 35; inde- 
pendent strikes of, 52, 55; 
deputy of, 73. 

Railroad Trainmen, Brother- 
hood of, deputy of, 24, 73 ; ar- 
bitration in, 35; independent 
strikes of, 52, 58, 65; strike 
benefits of, 96, 99, 100, 103, 
105 ; general vote of, 121. 

Railway Carmen, Brotherhood 
of, deputy of, 24; independent 
strikes of, 55, 58, 64; strike 
benefits of, 97. 

Railway Clerks, Brotherhood 
of, 41 ; independent strikes of, 
55, 58; deputy of, 73; strike 
benefits of, 99. 

Railway Conductors, Order of, 
deputy of, 24, 27, 73; agree- 
ments in, 35 ; independent 
strikes of, 55, 56, 57; strike 
benefits of, 96, 99, 100. 

"Rat," 79- 

Referendum vote, 19, 98, 121, 
122. 

Retail Clerks, International Pro- 
tective Association of, 52; 
strike benefits of, 99, 104; 
referendum vote in, 120. 

Rubber Workers' Union, in. 

Saffin, president of Iron Mold- 
ers, 14, 48, 52. 

Salmon, C. H., 74 (note). 

Sargent, F. P., 57, 83. 

Saw Smiths' Union, 52, 81. 

" Scab," 79. 

Seamen's International Union, 
52, 121. 

Sheet Metal Workers' Interna- 
tional Alliance, Amalgamated, 
seasonal strikes of, 45, 46; 
fines in, 81 ; strike benefits of, 
64, 96, 100, 103; strike termi- 
nation in, 119. 

Shipwrights, Joiners, and Caulk- 
ers' Union, International, 49. 

Slate and Tile Roofers' Interna- 
tional Union, 49, 71. 

Slate Workers, Brotherhood of, 
52; strike funds in, 09, 100. 

Slocum, president of Black- 
smiths, 63. 

Smith, Val, 65. 

Smith, W. J., 117. 

Steam Engineers, International 



130 



INDEX 



[ 4 68 



Union of, agreements in, 32, 
119; strike committee of, 42; 
fines in, 81. 

Steam, Hot Water and Power 
Pipe Fitters and Helpers, In- 
ternational Association of, 
agreements in, 32, 119; card 
transfer of, 78; strike funds 
of, 100. 

Steel Plate Transferers' Asso- 
ciation, 49. 

Stereotypers and Electrotypers' 
Union, International, 36, 55; 
illegal strikes of, 67. 

Stockton, F. T., 80 (note). 

Stogie Makers' League, 40, 50; 
strike benefits of, 99, 100; ex- 
ecutive power of, 120. 

Stone Cutters' Association, Jour- 
neymen, 19; rules of, 40 
(note), 80; strike limitation 
in, 47; sympathetic strikes of, 
62; strike report of, 75; strike 
benefits of, 99, 100, 102 (and 
note) ; representation in, 117, 
118; executive power of, 120. 

Stove Founders' National De- 
fense Association, 35. 

Stove Mounters and Steel Range 
Workers' International Un- 
ion, deputy of, 24 ; independent 
strikes of, 62, 63; transfer 
cards of, 78 ; fines in, 81 ; 
strike benefits of, 97, 99, no; 
executive power of, 116. 

Strasser, A. H., 54, 117. 

Street and Electric Railway Em- 
ployees, Amalgamated Asso- 
ciation of, 52, 55; automo- 
biles, used by, during strike, 
86; strike benefits of, 96, 99, 
100, 106 (note). 

Strike, early history of, 11-12; 
centralization of control, 12- 
19; history of national deputy, 
20-25; function of deputy, 25- 
26; advantages of system, 26- 
28; history of arbitration, 29- 
30; provisions for arbitration, 
30-34 ; agreements, 34737 ; 
rules for initiation of strikes, 
38-40; voting for a strike, 40- 
41 ; district boards, 41-43 ; rules 
as to number of strikes, 44- 
48; national or local control 
of independent strikes, 49-61 ; 



sympathetic strike, 61-64; en- 
forcement of rules, 64-69; 
tendency toward abolition of 
independent strike, 69-70; lo- 
cal strike committee, 71-72; 
district committee, 72-73; rep- 
resentative of national union, 
73-76; notice of strike, 76-78; 
refusal of transfer or travel- 
ling cards, 78-79; "scabs" and 
" rats," 79-85 ; aids to success- 
ful strikes, 85-87; early his- 
tory of benefits, 88-96; meth- 
ods of collecting strike funds, 
96-103; methods of payment, 
103-111; amounts paid, in- 
115; methods of terminating 
strikes, 1 16-123. 

Switchmen's Mutual Aid Asso- 
ciation, 59. 

Switchmen's Union, 24, 52, 55, 

59. 

Sylvis, W. H., 14, 20, 90. 

Teamsters, International Broth- 
erhood of, 32; ballot of, 40; 
independent strikes of, 50; 
suspension in, 81 ; strike bene- 
fits of, 100, 109, no; execu- 
tive power of, 121. 

Theatrical Stage Employees, 41, 
50, 78, 100. 

Tierney, president of Stove 
Mounters, 24. 

Tile Layers, International Asso- 
ciation of, 32, 40, 46; fines in, 
81 ; strike benefits of, 96, 100, 
104; executive power of, 120, 
121. 

Tin Plate Workers' Interna- 
tional Protective Association, 
district union of, 43; inde- 
pendent strikes of, 52; strike 
notice in, 77; strike extension 
in, 86; strike benefits of, 96, 
100; executive power of, 120. 

Tobacco Workers' International 
Union, 19, 32; illegal strikes 
of, 64; strike benefits of, 97, 
100; general vote of, 122. 

Transfer cards, 78. 

Travellers' Goods and ' eather 
Novelty Workers' interna- 
tional Union, 100, 104, 105. 

Typographical Union, Interna- 
tional, development of control 



469] 



INDEX 



131 



in, 13; agreements in, 36; in- 
dependent strikes of, 52, 55, 
69, 70; strike benefits of, 89, 99. 

Unfair list, 85. 

Upholsterers' International Un- 
ion, 100. 

Victimization, 108. 
Violence, 59. 

Wall Paper Machine Printers' 
and Color Mixers' Associa- 
tion, 36, 49, 71, 109. 

Wall Paper Manufacturers' As- 
sociation, 36. 

Wilkinson, S. G., 57. 



Window Glass Cutters and Flat- 
teners, National, 35, 49. 

Winslow, C. H., 34. 

Wire Weavers' Protective As- 
sociation, 52. 

Wood Carvers' Association, In- 
ternational, 81 ; strike benefits 
of, 100, 109; power to end 
strike, 121. 

Wood, Wire, and Metal Lath- 
ers' International Union, 49, 
85. 

Wood Workers' International 
Union, Amalgamated, strike 
policy of, 41, 46; independent 
strikes of, 62; deputies of, 73; 
strike benefits of, 99, 104; ex- 
ecutive power of, 120. 



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AND POLITICS. 

PBICE OF THESE NOTES, TEN CENTS NET EACH, UNLESS OTHEBWISH STATED. 

Municipal Government in England. By Albebt Shaw. 

Social "Work in Australia and London. By William Gbey. 

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Work Among the Workingwomen of Baltimore. By H. B. Adams. 

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A Memorial of Lucius S. Merriam. By J. H. Hollandeb and others. 

Is History Past Politics? By Hebbebt B. Adams. 

Lay Sermons. By Amos G. Wabneb ; with a biographical sketch by Geobge E. Howabd. 
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xii 



Extra Volumes of Studies 

IN 

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<o 



Early Diplomatic Relations 

BETWEEN 

the United States and Mexico 

By WILLIAM R. MANNING, Ph.D. 
Adjunct Professor of Latin-American History in the University 

of Texas 

418 pages. Cloth, $2.25 

This volume is based on a series of lectures delivered at the 
Johns Hopkins University in 1913 on the Albert Shaw Founda- 
tion. It deals with a period in the diplomatic relations between 
the United States and Mexico, which has hitherto been largely 
ignored by historians, whose attention has for the most part 
been centered on the Texas revolution, the admission of Texas 
into the Union, and the war between the United States and 
Mexico. 

The writer shows in an interesting way how the British took 
advantage of our delay in establishing a permanent representa- 
tive at the Mexican capital to promote British influence over the 
Mexican government, and how Poinsett's efforts to recover pres- 
tige for his government involved him in difficulties and in 
charges of intermeddling in the internal affairs of the country. 
The suspicions thus aroused, together with Poinsett's connec- 
tion with the York Masons, thwarted his efforts to bring to a 
successful conclusion the treaty negotiations with which he was 
charged. Professor Manning shows that in the misunderstand- 
ings and differences that arose during the years 1825— 1829 are 
to be found the origin and explanation of the irreconcilable 
differences which developed during the next two decades and 
which finally resulted in war between the United States and 
Mexico. 

THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS 

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 



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